Angel Fire—天使火災
by CrescentiC
Summary: Since their childhood, Father Fujimoto once reminded Rin and Yukio about the existence of angels. Since then, the twins looked up to angels as a divine species of protection from the demons. However, during a tragic event, Rin discovers a dark revelation about himself that puts his belief in angels into question. He now believes angels are going to protect this world—from him.
1. Prologue—プロローグ

**Disclaimer: Blue Exorcist (****青の祓魔師（エクソシスト****)) belongs to Kazue Kato. This is created for entertainment purposes only, no profit was made. Please support the author by purchasing her books!**

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_**天使火災**__**- Angel Fire**_

_**Part 1: **__**Prologue—**__**プロローグ**___

_"...War arose in heaven, Michael and his angels were fighting against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back, but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him."_

- Revelation 12:7-9

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**"Whoa! That's so awesome!" A young boy shouted in excitement and awe. **He continued to listen to the priest sitting on an old wooden chair by his bed side. The boy continuously shuffled through his covers, he could no longer sleep anymore due to a rush of excitement. His big, sapphire eyes laid glued to the priest's hand. A big, meaty book entitled the _Bible_ was held delicately in the father's long, wrinkled fingers. The priest paused a moment to smile at the boy, pleased by his interest.

"What do you think, Rin?" The priest asked the young lad named Rin. The boy stopped to look up into the priest's tired eyes, a flicker of candle light reflected off the priest's eyes and shone a small area of his round, red-tinted glasses. The moonlight passing through the window beside the father casted a soft, bluish glow in contrast to the orange candlelight. The shadows had built up along the priest's wrinkles on his face. The boy continued to stare until he let out a toothy grin, with a small gap missing a tooth along his smile. He balled up his pudgy fists and raised them confidently into the air, as if cheering.

"I wanna meet one! That'd be so cool! They can fight! I wanna fight with them and beat the bad guys!" Rin responded with big, shining blue eyes. He began to throw his fists into the air while imitating the sound of many punches. Rin laughed and jumped out of his covers and onto the creaking wooden floor, then charged around the priest with his hands in a position holding a sword. "Take that!" He cried, and swung his imaginary sword. His tiny, bare feet slapped against the creaking floor as he continued to run, without a sign of stopping. He swung his imaginary sword at the air before him, pretending like there were incoming enemies and he smote them with heroic execution. The priest laughed as Rin now imitated he had a pair of wings by flapping his short arms. His laugh stopped abruptly when Rin added something else along his lines.

"With their help, I'll be able to kick Satan's ass!" Rin said and he pretended to lay a kick. The priest, however, laid a quick spank at the back of Rin's big, hairy head. Rin stopped imitating his act and turned towards the father, both his small hands clasped over the sore spot that made contact with the father's hand. The father restrained his urge to headlock the boy and instead decided to yell.

"Rin! No swearing in the house of God!" The father cried out in offence, ashamed of the boy. Rin's head sank into his shoulders, but then hid all the guilt by smiling coolly. Rin knows that the father will impose his punishment next.

"Tomorrow morning, when you wake up, you will confess for your sins," the priest said then crossed his arms and legs in indignation.

Rin's devilish smile was wiped off his face. "Oh, come on, Dad!" He whined. Normally, Rin expected the Father to take away some favourite toy of his, but no; it was much worse. The boy stood still with a fat pout and crossed his arms. It may not seem like much, but to Rin Confession was the worst punishment ever invented; sitting on his knees for hours confessing everything he had done to a statue of a man hanging on a cross in the church, whether it be lying, back-talking, using God's name in vain, and even when he punched a little boy in the face - or was it more than one boy? Despite living in a devout religious family, Rin was a rebellious and troublesome scamp, and he always had punishments imposed on him.

Confession always resulted in bruised knees and a stiff back, and since Rin always got his knees hurt from fighting at daycare, confession just made the pain worst. He felt this uneasiness when confessing all the bad actions he did, and most of them his father doesn't even know. What's the point of telling a statue all the wrongdoings you've committed? It's not like it'll hear anything anyways, or that confessing will change anything. Despite all this, the worst part is he couldn't get away with lying his way out of confession, and he certainly loved to lie. It was very difficult to restrain an incident to himself, especially from a priest who constantly babbled lectures trying to convince him that lying is a sin. Rin heard the lectures so many times he could memorize it and perform it as a speech. The worst is those words have now become drilled in his head, and whenever he did something wrong, those words sounded in his ear, and he began to feel guilty for once. The truth had now been forced upon his helpless self!

"Please, dad! _Anything_ but Confession!" Rin dragged on, begging, trying to explain his excuse for using that one word. "At least I said it for a good purpose!" He added, "besides, I'm fighting with the good guys!" Rin formed a cheeky smile on his face. The priest had to agree that his fictional ambition was some sort of good act. The father only frowned slightly.

"I believe in them! They protect us from demons, right?" another voice, less loud then Rin's, sounded. Another boy, who sat silently on his bunk above Rin's, spoke at last. The priest looked up to the bunk above Rin's bed, the other boy sat calmly on his knees. The covers enveloped around him, as if he was cold. He was small and frail unlike Rin. His short chocolate hair was different to Rin's messy, layered navy hair, plus he had big, squared, thick-rimmed glasses that were almost bigger than his soft, round teal eyes.

"Do angels really exist, Father Fujimoto? I've never seen one ever..." he spoke eagerly, but then the tone of doubt could be noticed at the end.

"It's all up to your faith, Yukio. Do you believe in them?" Father Fujimoto responded with a warm smile. Yukio paused to reflect on the father's question, his little finger touched his small, lower lip. Indeed, now that he thought about the father's words, Yukio did feel safe from the thought that a supernatural power was watching over him. Why did he feel so safe knowing some good force existed? The world is not as lonely as it seems to most people - humanity knew only a bit about this world that was only a part of the big picture. Yukio and Father Fujimoto are two of the few who possess the whole truth about Assiah, in other terms, Earth. There is an ancient evil that has invaded the world since the beginning of time - evil that exists even today. _Demons_. That is the term that describes these evil forces. Yukio would rather have humanity remain oblivious about this evil; the world would certainly go in a panic if they saw what he and his father see daily.

Since his birth, Yukio had been seeing the demons that crept silently in this world, and he and his father were the only ones aware of his born sight. Every day, he would wake up in his bed with the feared feeling of facing another day seeing hell before his eyes: blood-dripping beasts clawing at his backpack, the terrifying shrill of a ghost in his ear, and a hobgoblin attempting to pull at his hair and destroy his books whenever he was alone and secluded from the rest of the people. He would always get picked on and identified as the mentally insane nerd by his own classmates - the teachers even began to believe the children. He would scream in the middle of a lesson from a demon pulling at his hair and whispering tempting, hurtful words, despite nothing could be seen from the humans' blind eyes. He would jerk suddenly and cover his ears from another demon dragging their long nails down the chalkboard, filling the room and his head with the painful ear-splitting screech as it looked straight into his wet, innocent turquoise eyes. Now, thinking that he was not alone, especially with a powerful species watching over him, that fearful feeling of facing these demons seemed to have vanished away.

Yukio looked down to the small palms of his hands, then clenched them. "... I feel like I want to fight by their side, y'know? I want to become strong enough to protect myself from demons." Yukio tried to say it confidently, but Father Fujimoto knew it had a greater, implied meaning to that of a naive little boy. Yukio's words were serious unlike Rin, who played it as a joke. Rin has no clue about these demons, and that they even exist. Rin considered his father simply as a shaman aiding people with their inner problems. He was the lucky one blinded from the other side of this world, and Father Fujimoto knew Yukio envied that about Rin. Of course, Rin had the easy way out of this torture. The priest could do nothing but smile sadly at the young, brown-haired boy.

"Dad already _is_ fighting by their side, duh! He's an exorcist, he'll protect us from those demons!" Rin, still pumped up with energy despite his punishment, shouted as he pointed his small finger at a now grinning Father Fujimoto. Yukio smiled too, but forcefully. He imagined himself becoming an exorcist just like his father when he will grow up one day. When it comes to looking at this world from an oblivious, human perspective, he saw it a whole different way - with the whole, painful truth conscious in his mind. Could that be the only reason to protect himself from the darkness that lurks around him? Becoming an exorcist? He was certainly afraid of the dark, and it was true that monsters would really hide under someone's bed. These fearless creatures - _angels_ - were responsible for extinguishing demons. He remembered a moment ago when Father Fujimoto quoted the mighty archangel Michael fighting the dragon known as Satan, the father of all demons. Now humans can extinguish demons too - just like his father, but can a weak, little boy like Yukio take on their risky role?

"Both of you seem fascinated by these creatures mankind barely knew," Fujimoto said with a soft grin then let out a large yawn, which stimulated more yawns from two smaller mouths. The exorcist closed the book and set it on the small bedside table as the boys shuffled into their covers and prepared for sleep. Yukio brought up his soft, green blanket close to his face and sucked on his thumb. Rin patted his pillow then dived his head into it, then slipped into the covers and looked at the exorcist expectantly, "do you believe in them, Daddy?" Rin said softly as he also started to suck on his thumb.

Father Fujimoto looked at him and responded, "in fact, I do. Do you know why?"

Both boys responded quietly, "why?"

The exorcist stood up and pulled the covers and tucked them around Rin's small body. His words were warm and comforting. "Because I know angels are watching over us. We are alive because of them. If you feel in danger, just remember that they will aid you no matter what. You may not see them, but they are there. Talk to them and they will listen. I have faith in them because you two are alive today, and I am grateful for their protection. You two are the most precious sons I was ever blessed with."

Rin and Yukio both smiled sweetly, delighted by their father's response. Soon they slowly dosed off into a safe, dreamy sleep. Father Fujimoto leaned down towards the small table and blew at the candle flame until it died down into smoke. The smell of incense danced lightly in the night air. He slowly walked towards the doorway, the sound of the floor under his shoes creaked weakly in the silence. When Father Fujimoto's hand hovered above the switch, he paused to look at the two boys and added, "goodnight, Rin and Yukio, don't let the bed demons bite." That joke created some giggles from the boys - mostly Rin. Father Fujimoto smiled one last time before he flicked the light off and closed the door with a creak, then a click. The moment he turned his back to the door, the exorcist's smile was killed when a thought struck in his head about Rin. The exorcist tilted his head up and rested it against the door, then let out a shaky breath. He ran his cold, lanky hand down his face and looked up at the ceiling, then at the small, metal cross that hung above the doorway to his own bedroom across the boys' room. Father Fujimoto felt his heart cringe at the thought of Rin's situation. Deep down inside, against all he had said, Father Fujimoto began to believe - fearfully - that Rin was the only human in this world the angels will turn against.

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**A/N: Well, here's the first chapter! Hopefully you enjoyed this prologue and I'm thankful you took some time to read it! Reviews will be greatly appreciated as they inspire me to continue forward!**

**Constructive criticism is welcomed as always! I'm not gonna be offended, so please say what you think and help me improve as a writer.**

**—CrescendencE**


	2. Chapter 1: Genesis—発端

**Disclaimer: Blue Exorcist (****青の祓魔師（エクソシスト****)) belongs to Kazue Kato. This is created for entertainment purposes only, no profit was made. Please support the author by purchasing her books!**

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_**天使火災**__**- Angel Fire**_

_**Chapter 1: Genesis - **__**発**__**端**_

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**"On Thursday, September 23, another mysterious occurrence has been reported. **Police are investigating a train derailment that has happened on the Sōbu Main line. The train was passing through Chiba towards Tokyo when the train suddenly derailed, killing 18 passengers and injuring 24, 22 passengers remain missing in the accident, including the engineer. Police officials identify the cause as an unknown terrorist attack. A survivor had reported that the air started to smell like sulphur before the accident happened..." The female reporter on screen continued to report the incident. The camera panned towards the accident behind the reporter. The train looked like nothing but a mashed up mess of metal. Scraps of metal and debris laid everywhere, and the flashing blue and red lights of the paramedic vans and police cars flickered in the scene, carrying injured passengers in stretchers and loaded them into the back of the paramedic vans. Utility poles were knocked down and smashed by the train, with lines of cable and power lines laying on the ground and hanging on the poles. Nearby homes were nearly destroyed, plastering the ground with more debris and bits of wood and bricks.

"Quite terrible, isn't it?" The waiter said when he stopped washing a table and looked up at the television pinned up on the wall. "Japan's trying to bolster up Shinkansen safety, but I guess that ain't working out, go figure," he continued and turned his gaze away from the screen to a young individual who looked like an adolescent, who was sitting at a table alone slurping noodles.

"It is. It's quite mysterious for a train to suddenly derail for no apparent reason, I wonder why there are passengers missing?" The young individual responded and picked up more noodles with her chopsticks and slipped them into her mouth.

"I don't know, it's quite supernatural actually, like some invisible thing pushed the train off course. And those passengers - sounds like they were whisked away into thin air, out of existence," the waiter responded and returned to washing the table in front of him. The adolescent continued slurping her noodles.

_Another one_. The adolescent thought with furrowed eyebrows, her brown eyes directed down and laid the chopsticks beside the bowl of steaming noodles. She sifted in her pockets and one of her hands pulled out a small ticket. The same name of the train and line were printed on the smooth paper.

_How unfortunate, there goes my journey to Tokyo_. The adolescent looked down at the ticket, despite no sign of disappointment; she then looked out through a window. Rain pelted against the glass, leaving many water trails behind as the heavy droplets fell. Luckily she wasn't on that train, or else she would be one of those unfortunate victims... well, not really. She could have survived, because she would know what had really happened. What the reporters say are false, at least to people like her. She knew immediately the truth behind this 'accident', or if it _is_ one. The waiter was right about one thing - the incident is supernatural. It wasn't a terrorist attack, far from that. It seemed humans always turn towards some form of human excuses to explain things that they couldn't understand, mainly because they don't know the truth. She concluded that it was not humans that caused the problem, nor faulty mechanics either. Something else; something menacing that humans are clueless about.

"_Proverbium est Phantasma..._" She whispered. Phantom Train. That is what it is called, or to say at least, a demon. She was one of the few who knew about this species. Most humans couldn't see them, yet she was an exception.

Some like her aren't so blind like the rest of the population.

_These demons just keep invading this world, s_he thought to herself. Fortunately, instead of cringing in fear like what normal people would do, she knew how to deal with these creatures. She's a part of a small group of beings capable of expelling these demons from this world. They call themselves exorcists - soldiers specialized in exterminating these fiends. However, these demons were becoming more and more difficult to maintain, they have caused so much havoc for ages that people are dying, and exorcists are becoming small in numbers.

The girl spoke into her head as she closed her eyes, trying to conjure a theory for the accident. _Phantom trains are demons that possess trains._ She paused, opened her eyes, and shot a side glance at the television on the wall. The camera showed the smashed front of the train. It looked nearly impossible to see a body in there.

Amitiel pursed her lips and frowned at the screen as she continued _…there was never an engineer inside the train, because the demon took possession of it. It's possible the demon had collected enough souls, 18 souls, and the 22 missing ones in the train, and had transported these souls into Gehenna via trans-dimensional travel_. She stopped speaking within her head.

_Precisely correct_. A deep, rigid voice filled her head, echoing every corner of the girl's mind.

"Then that means 40 humans are dead," she said flatly at loud, her voice didn't indicate if she was disappointed or amused.

"Excuse me?" The waiter said and looked at the girl as if she went mental.

"I wasn't talking to you," she said sharply without making eye contact, keeping her attention on the noodles, but the waiter took her reply more offensively.

The girl looked at the waiter when he looked away as the voice continued to speak. _Then you must be more vigilant, Amitiel. Demons are masters at stealth. They are skilled at cloaking their identities from us. If you do not get a hold of yourself, demons will continue to snuff out every single soul out of our watch. Humanity is our responsibility, so do not fail. _The manly voice sounded in her head again. There was a long pause after that, leaving the girl named Amitiel to think about what the voice said.

She and many others were born to protect humans. That's her job, her life's purpose. This is what she does for a living. If she failed to protect humanity, demons will continue to cause more hell on Earth - and she would be responsible for their deaths.

After the prolonged pause, the voice returned to her head again. _Amitiel, another one was spotted three streets north from your location. Hunt it down_. The voice commanded her.

_I don't have a ride anymore._ She responded.

_I said three streets north from your location, not towards Tokyo_. The voice replied, its tone was hard and tinged with frustration.

The waiter stared at the screen when suddenly he heard the chair beside him screech against the wood. The waiter watched as the girl suddenly slid off the chair, walked away at a rushed pace without a reason towards the door, almost like someone commanded her to do something like she was a machine. Her expression remained blank as she pushed the door open. The waiter ran his hand through his dark brown hair and eyed the girl named Amitiel as she left the peaceful, lit up restaurant and plunged back into the dark, busy streets of the city.

Amitiel stood still in front of the doors, looking ahead at the busy street coming across her. Rain poured heavily in the city. People hustled through the wet sidewalks with umbrellas suspended above their heads. The umbrellas where dripping with water. Despite it was nearly midnight, the street was thriving, with buildings decked out in different signs exhibiting different colours of light. The water trickling on the road reflected all the light. There was so much light the street looked like it was in daylight. Cars blared their horns in the middle of the long traffic lights, and some people moved by bike. The girl looked up at the black sky, covered in clouds that flashed and created a rumbling sound. Within a matter of minutes, rain droplets pelted her face, drenching it in water, and soaking her blond hair into heavy, dripping waves. Her clothes were already almost soaked, and unfortunately - she had no umbrella. Amitiel only scanned the crowd, eyeing every single face that she saw like a hawk. She walked north from where she was. One by one she looked at a new face, as if searching for this "demon" the voice called out for her to search; except the fact that she was lost. There were so many streets laying across from hers there were too many to choose from. It could be any one, and she only had one chance of finding this monster - before it causes more harm to the poor human souls.

"Can you give me some directions?" Amitiel asked the air as she glanced at a sign indicating the street name.

The voice returned with what seemed like a cryptic response to Amitiel. _That is secret, Amitiel. There are many resources you can use, such as a map._

"Alright. But don't be so puzzling, this world is a maze, and you know the secrets and tricks around this place," the girl responded tediously.

_Those are secrets that must remain unknown, this is your training. Your skills and knowledge are tested in real-life situations to better prepare you for what you must do in the future_. The voice added, puzzling the girl even more, but also reminded her of something. The voice was preparing her for a special assignment she must do, if she failed to do so, Assiah will be plunged into the fires of Hell.

_Now focus_. The voice commanded her, and Amitiel moved herself towards a shop nearby and purchased a map. Japan certainly was a maze, everywhere she went there was always something she couldn't recognize - despite living here for over 15 years. The girl was about to step out from under the awning hangings in front of the shop before she realized she didn't want this precious resource in her hands to be spoiled by the heavy rain. Now that she thought about the rain, the girl felt uncomfortable as her wet jacket was sticking against her cold back. Amitiel stood under the awning as she rotated the map, trying to make out how to function this large piece of paper with numerous networks of lines printed on it.

The girl stopped a stranger on the sidewalk and asked for the directions. The stranger, who was an older man, possibly in his 30's, rotated the map completely opposite from what she did, and pointed at the area she wanted to go. Amitiel bowed slightly and the man continued on. Amitiel glanced down at the map, then looked up at the street in front of her. Folding away her map and tucking it into her pocket with the useless ticket, Amitiel hurried across the road to reach the other side. So many people poured into the intersection the moment the light changed red. Amitiel was meters away from reaching the other side when a vociferous noise screamed in her ear. Amitiel jumped back just in time for a vehicle to suddenly brake in front of her. Amitiel stared through the blinding headlights, almost calmly, at the man shouting at her and gesturing her to move aside.

Amitiel watched from the sidewalk as the driver sped away in a rush, water splashed behind the rear wheels, and Amitiel was inches away from becoming drenched - despite already being drenched. She turned her back on the road and focused on the next street in front of her - hopefully she won't run into a car accident next time.

The girl shook her head to remove the water off her soaking strands of blond hair, and pulled up the hoodie of her jacket above her head. She pulled out the map as she continued to walk north just like the voice said. The girl bumped into the shoulder of a young woman, and the two looked back to make eye contact, the woman frowned a bit, then returned their attention ahead of them. Amitiel stopped aside the sidewalk to observe the map again, using her finger to gesture her path. The girl looked up and noticed the same street name on a post that was on the map. She tucked away her map again and started to sprint through the people walking against her. There was no way she could reach her destination in time, the demon must have moved away from its designated location.

"Is it still there?" Amitiel shouted out loud through the loud sound of the rain falling and the people talking, which earned some odd glances from some people. She thought about doing something that proved much easier than to swim through this pool of people.

_Do not even think about doing that_. The voice said before she took action, almost at the point of raising its voice. _I understand this is slow, but you must build up patience. You can't appear right before the demon, it will know what you are. And believe me, you will be in a fix. You must approach it unnoticed in order to exorcise it._

_How can I approach it if I can't even see it?_ Amitiel asked.

_Use your senses. The enemy is closer than you may think..._The voice trailed off. That response forced Amitiel to stop. Her shoes skidded against the water, splashing her pants and some people, who cursed at her. Amitiel's head jerked around, looking for any signs of demonic activity.

"Sure, tell the boss I'm on it. He could be anywhere..." Amitiel's eyes shot towards the voice she heard, which was right beside her. She slowly looked up to find a tall, young man standing with a weird intricate device held up to his ear, and he spoke to it.

"...huh? True Cross Academy? I'm sure _he_ will take care of him, but who knows; there's a reason why he left the pit..." The man continued, observing around him. Amitiel stared at the man from bottom up. He was rather lean, dressed up in formal work attire (which was also wet). His dark hair was combed back and he had a bit of facial stubble on his chin and jaw lines. However, something was bothering Amitiel about this man. His presence was not appealing to her. Humans, however, are oblivious to what is really inside a human body. Amitiel wasn't, she saw the man's essence. It was dark, cold, and menacing, almost as if a black aura was surrounding him. That is what all the presence of demons felt like. Amitiel stared at the man and glanced at a few Coal Tars loitering around his head.

The teen remained calm as the man flicked his rough gaze towards her. The moment they made eye contact, Amitiel had confirmed her target. She could see the beast inside those eyes. The slightly slit pupils were proof of his identity. He's the one.

The man paused from his conversation and spoke to Amitiel with a hard look on his sharp face. "What do you want, some money?" Amitiel just remained silent and composed. The man rolled his eyes and returned to his conversation. "Piss off," he added sharply.

Amitiel looked away, yet kept her attention on the man only, and also eavesdropped on his conversation, "... perhaps he would go to True Cross Academy, y'know. No one would suspect a demon to join forces with these hairy animals." The man talked, then checked a gold watch wrapped around his wrist.

_True Cross Academy... the school for training exorcists?_ What was he talking about? Then suddenly a theory popped into her head. Amitiel seemed to understand what the conversation was implying, which hooked her interest in the demon. Could he be in True Cross Academy? Blending in with exorcists was smart cover, however, not before long when she finds _him_.

Amitiel's back straightened when the demon folded the device and stuffed it in his jacket. He whistled a rather eerie tune and began walking. He unfolded his umbrella and walked away. A sense of curiosity pushed the girl into taking action, she needed to find out what this demon is talking about. Did the voice know about this? Is it part of her training? Nevertheless, she believed there could be valuable intel with this demon. Her eyes darkened and Amitiel began walking behind the man ten meters behind, trailing him, almost like that of a kidnapper stalking their victim. She slipped her hood over her head and placed her hands in her pockets and kept eye contact with the man. Lightning flashed as she stalked him from behind. On the demon's part, he walked calmly, no worries on his mind, unaware about the girl following him. She knew the man's soul was trapped somewhere in that mass of flesh. She must exorcise the demon that has stolen this man's body.

Amitiel swam through the flood of people, struggling to keep her gaze on the demon. She couldn't lose him, yet the chances were high. There was so many people she could lose the demon in a wink of an eye. She had to find out what's going on inside that demon's head, hoping he could be a potential witness. Thankfully, the demon turned towards a dark, narrow, and dimly lit alley to light a cigarette. After the girl pushed her way through the crowd, she quietly slid behind a big garbage bin just in time for him to look around himself. He let out his black tail and revealed his horns as he lit a cigarette. He didn't move as he observed around him, as if expecting something.

The sound of distant car horns, splashing across the street, people walking, and the bark of dog could be heard in the distance. It was much quieter since the roofs above her shielded the ground from the rain, which allowed Amitiel to become less distracted. Amitiel's hand hovered over something beside her hip. Her hand gripped something and a silver blade with a smooth sheen slipped into view as she pulled it out of its sheath. She leaned her back against the garbage bin (which was full, rotten, and filled with flies and Coal Tars swarming around. The smell of humidity just made it worse) and turned her head carefully at the corner of the bin to get a good look at the demon. Fortunately, it was dark, the only part of him she could see was his lit up cigarette butt, glowing red in the black obscurity of the alley. Amitiel decided to move quietly in the darkness towards the demon, using the dark as an advantage for cover from being spotted by the demon. As the man's back remained on her, she slowly moved, using the glowing cigarette to guide her path towards the demon. Her back arched low as she approached the demon from behind with slow, stealthy steps.

When she was just behind the demon and began raising her blade, he held his cigarette between his teeth and spun around to lay a sharp, backhand punch against her cheek, causing Amitiel to spin around and fall straight onto the cold, wet ground. He roared and attempted to stomp onto her ribs, but Amitiel rolled aside, dodging the demon's feet from plunging right into her torso. She got up and swung her blade, but the demon caught her arm, twisted it, forcing her to release the blade and drove his knee in her stomach. She gasped and the demon threw her into the ground, breaking the concrete around her as her back hit it with such force.

When the demon realized she was weakened, he went over to the blade onto the ground and picked it up. Smoke emitted from under his palm, his skin burning against the blade's touch. His grip was so tight that it cut off his hand's circulation. His blood-red gaze laid murderously on the handicapped girl. She tried to stand up but her body gave out. Her expression showed no sign of fear when she looked back and the demon held the blade up, preparing to cut the Amitiel's vessel into shreds of guts.

Before he could react, he felt a strong gush of wind that forced him to shut his eyes and draw back. Bright light hit against his eyelids for a second. He opened his red eyes and the teen was gone, leaving only the large crater she created. He lowered the blade and prepared for the unexpected.

He gasped when the girl ripped her blade out of his grip, grabbed the man from behind with her arm wrapping against his chest, locked his arms still, and placed the blade at his throat. He growled at the sight of the familiar silver blade at his throat. His growl sounded deep and demonic.

"_Angel. . ._" he growled while gritting his teeth, revealing his sharp fangs. He remained his attention on the blade, glimmering and reflecting the city lights back into his red eye. His slit pupil narrowed by the light.

"Answer my question, demon, what do you know about the ninth Son of Satan?" She commanded. The demon smirked sinisterly, "I knew what you were, and I knew I would lure you in this secluded place... yet I expected you to be the victim in this case." The demon continued to smile and fidgeted to escape, but she dug the blade in his throat, causing him to yelp.

"Argh, screw you! I don't know!" He roared. She dug the blade deeper into his throat, wisps of smoke emitting from the demon's sizzling wound as the blade dug itself into his skin.

"Answer my question, that is no polite way to speaking to your superiors. Besides, I know you're lying, I can see it in your damned eyes," she said.

The demon smirked menacingly, "I said I don't know. Isn't it a sin to eavesdrop on _my_ conversation, angel?" The demon chuckled, mocking her beliefs. The girl's blade sent a sharp pain through the man's head, blood began to leak through the skin.

"You go any deeper and this man's dead!" The demon laughed, knowing the angel couldn't do it because her job was the opposite of killing humans. Amitiel stopped.

"Then answer my question and I won't have to send you're ungrateful self back to your leader," Amitiel said, which in turned would expect that it will spark some encouragement. She knew even the Devil's minions feared him.

However, the demon reacted in a way she didn't anticipate. "Heh heh, you can't make me, I ain't tellin' you jack squat!" He head-butted her, broke free and began to sprint to the end of the alley. Amitiel stumbled back, sucked in her breath as she rubbed her aching, throbbing forehead, shook her head and then quickly pursued the demon.

Amitiel ran after the escaping demon. Charging through the mass of rain to the monster ahead of her. Her breaths became short as thirst coursed through her mind. The thirst to drive her blade up his jaw; spill his blood; kill him. Her knuckles turned white as she gripped her blade. She ran and ran, but no matter how fast she ran, the demon was still far up ahead. Suddenly, she was at the realization that he will get away, because he was already almost reaching the end. She hurried and tried to charge faster, so that she can stop him before he causes harm to the humans, however, she really didn't give it much thought or care, she just wanted to kill him because he was a monster.

Amitiel took action by using her blade. She flipped it and held the blade pointing towards the demon and swung it. It zipped, spinning through the rain and damp air, chasing its victim at the speed of light. The demon heard the blade fly towards him and instinctively dodged aside, the blade hit the brick wall. It made an acute sound and dropped on the ground. The tip had wedged into the overflowed soil.

Amitiel doubled the energy she used to run even faster, she quickly continued running but the demon took a sharp turn and disappeared behind the brick wall, mixed in with the huge pool of people.

Amitiel grabbed her blade out of the ground and sprinted out, running and bumping into many people, who yelled and cursed at her. The rain blew so hard against her face, it actually felt like it was stinging her cheeks, plus her lungs and throat were burning. She suddenly ran into the shoulder of an old man and the poor man fell on the ground.

"Move out!" The angel shouted as she looked back. Many other people dodged out of the demon's way and glued their eyes to the sprinting angel passing by them following the demon. The demon looked back at the angel and cursed. He grabbed and hurled a large garbage can from the sidewalk onto her path. Piles of garbage flooded out of the can, right before Amitiel tripped over on the garbage can. The metal can clanged loudly on the ground as the angel hit the soaking pavement, scraping her arms and knees. People stared at her in consternation as she bolted up. She looked blankly at the people and then sprinted away.

Amitiel locked her gaze on the demon, who was much farther away and barely visible through the crowd, because of this, she had to follow the demon's essence. She could feel him from a distance, it was as if she could feel his heartbeat, except it was the demon's presence that she was feeling. Amitiel saw an old woman walk right in her path. She pushed the woman aside with such force the woman dropped her cane and fell onto the ground. A family rushed to her aid.

"Humans..." Amitiel hissed through clenched teeth as she kept running. She had to admit how weak and useless they had become. Why couldn't they be more powerful, more flawless? She was always against the creation of humans, nevertheless, she still is. If humans could see these demons, they would be much stronger and independent.

Amitiel saw the demon run into another alleyway. Hoping the alley was a dead end, she slowed down until her feet stood still. She readied her blade from behind the wall and tried to take steady breaths. She turned and pointed her blade at the demon but found the alley empty. She panted and looked ahead. She breathed heavily from exhaustion, her body was on fire and was at the point of collapsing. Her hair was glued to her head from sweat and rain and her clothes also stuck to her clammy, wet skin.

Amitiel took a few steps into the alley until she was in the center. She observed, searching near the roof and in the glowing windows on the buildings. Amitiel panted, struggling in spotting the demon in the dark, since the area was secluded from the intense lights of the streets. Barely any light from the street reached the alley.

After minutes of complete silence, the angel sheathed her blade on her belt. She didn't feel his presence, and so she concluded the demon had officially escaped. She looked blankly ahead and began to walk calmly away. She actually couldn't care less whether or not it escaped, she wasn't really concerned if that demon will kill people - there are still billions of others that could replace its dead victims. She just wanted him dead. Just like the Phantom Train, people will mourn but they will forget about the victims. Amitiel turned around and walked towards the crowded street.

"He's gone," Amitiel spoke. "But I think we should go somewh-" Amitiel was interrupted as she heard a hoarse cry coming from behind her. She looked over her shoulder nonchalantly and looked down at what it was: it was that demon. An arrow was struck through its head, yet nothing bled out. The arrow dissolved in white sparkles and the man looked unharmed, as if he was never struck. His demonic features were now human. She stared down with a blank expression as she made the assumption that the demon sneaked up on her, yet she hasn't even heard a sound, or felt his presence.

She glanced to the direction the arrow was launched; a tall man who looked like in his mid-forties with dark brown hair, a bit of facial hair, green eyes, and wore a long black cassock stood on top of a large garbage bin several meters away in a corner from Amitiel, the darkness making him barely noticeable. He glanced back at the angel as he lowered his bow and spoke to her telepathically,

_Never let your guard down, Amitiel. Do not jump into conclusion that it has escaped. If it were not for my assistance, he would have driven his fist right through your heart._ The man said, yet it didn't make Amitiel shudder at his chilling words. _Do not be discouraged about your failure, you are just learning. We will review your actions later, so calm yourself._ He said reassuringly, even though she didn't feel discouraged at all.

Amitiel nodded, without showing a sign of shock or fear, or a rapid increase in heartbeat. She just looked straight ahead with vacant eyes, unconcerned from the thought of almost being killed.

"I'm sorry, Raziel," she paused, ". . . nice headshot, by the way."

"Thank you kindly," the man named Raziel spoke through his mouth. He jumped off the bin and walked towards Amitiel. The closer he got, the taller he became. Amitiel could also notice the wrinkles at the corner of his eyes, followed by dark purple circles under them. His dark hair had areas displaying graying areas, especially near his ears. Amitiel slowly looked up to Raziel as he approached her, until he stood before her. Raziel threw his bow over his shoulder and fixed a glance on Amitiel.

"We must continue searching for the Son of Satan, do you still plan on going to Tokyo?" Raziel asked, crossing his arms. "Were you able to obtain information from the demon?"

"Yes... I believe we must go to True Cross Academy."

* * *

**A/N: well, this is the first chappy which introduces well...angels! As usual, reviews inspire me to continue so they will always be greatly appreciated!**

**Now, the next chapter will focus on Raziel's character, after that the canon characters will take part!**


	3. Chapter 2: True Cross Academy—真の十字架アカデミー

**Disclaimer: Blue Exorcist (****青の祓魔師（エクソシスト****)) belongs to Kazue Kato. This is created for entertainment purposes only, no profit was made. Please support the author by purchasing her books!**

* * *

_**天使火災**__**—**__**Angel Fire**_

_**Chapter 2: True Cross Academy—**__**真の十字架アカデミー**_

* * *

**"Amitiel, wake up." A familiar voice broke through the silence, followed by a slight shake to her shoulder.** Amitiel sucked in her breath andopened her eyes. They felt heavy and stiff and Amitiel's hands instinctively rubbed against her eyes. She blinked a few times to reduce her blurry vision, when suddenly a piercing white light penetrated her eyes. It was so bright Amitiel's hands flew up and covered her eyes again, trying to avoid seeing that painful, blinding light from burning her eyes—

"Amitiel, what _are_ you doing?" The same voice sounded. Amitiel moved two fingers that was covering her eye apart, creating a small opening for her eye, and realized Raziel stood in front of the light, with arms folded and confusion crossing his face. She put her hands down and responded, "what?"

When Raziel moved away from the blinding light, Amitiel was about to cover her eyes again when she realized the light came from none other but a small, table lamp.

"We must get ready, wake up and get dressed. We are going to Tokyo," Raziel said while shuffling through her bag, then pulling out a set of clothes. He tossed them and the small pile landed onto the girl's head. Something red and black fell in front of her, and Amitiel shook the clothes off her head to find what clothes fell in her hands. She observed the long, black, white, and red striped tie. It felt silky and soft, and there was a slight sheen to it. The angel looked away from the tie and focused on what seemed like a white blouse, along with a rippled pink skirt. Amitiel looked at a busy Raziel, and he was wearing his usual long, black cassock. He wore the same tie she had and was busy fixing it.

"Put those on, you need them for your first day of school," Raziel said as he fixed his tie and gave her an impatient look. In reality, a father would be proud of his daughter's first day of high school—not in Amitiel's case. She wasn't really going to attend mainly for the sake of learning, she had other plans that were far more important. On the side note, Raziel wasn't even her father. Raziel stared at her with a sharp glance, urging Amitiel to slide out of the bed covers and carry her clothes into the bathroom of the room. Amitiel always expected these unamusing, intimidating glances from Raziel. She never witnessed a tiny laugh coming from Raziel, or even a smile. He was always too serious; never capable of taking in a harmless joke. He was most commonly seen tired, irritated, and austere, so he never had the vibe to smile. This attitude of Raziel's wasn't due to lack of sleep, although Raziel never sleeps. If he did, it would be more a "snooze" than a sleep. However, he always forgot that he was in a vessel, and human vessels needed to catch some z's on a daily basis. As the result, he always had dark bags under his eyes from his vessel's inadequate amount of rest despite Raziel himself needing no rest, which added a touch to his grumpy personality.

Amitiel looked into the bathroom mirror as she adjusted her tie. She let go of the tie and it hung down. She had to admit the blouse felt physically uncomfortable, but more importantly, the skirt was what bothered her the most. She felt exposed from its short length, and she could tell it would be difficult for her to fight in this skirt. Amitiel grabbed the pastel-yellow overcoat and slid her arms through the sleeves, she fixed it and then breathed out a sigh. The overcoat was tight around her arms and especially her shoulders. She was more built compared to a skinny, weak-looking girl.

The girl tilted her head aside to observe the large wad of blond hair on her head. It wasn't as wavy as yesterday, instead, it was just a large mess of frizzy hair. It was normal for her hair to react this way due to the humid air, plus from tossing and turning in bed. Amitiel just took a few moments to brush down her hair, even though her hair just got puffier. The angel, instead, decided to tie her hair back in a quick pig-tail. The angel observed on the counter sink and found her sheathed blade sitting on the counter. Amitiel heard Raziel call her name and the girl took the sheath and wrapped it around her thigh. That just made her dislike the skirt even more. She straightened up to find the tip of the blade peeking out from under the skirt, normally she could easily hide it under her pant sleeves, yet now she was forbidden to even wear pants.

Amitiel's head jerked towards the door when Raziel called her name again. She walked to the door and stepped out. Raziel looked back and found her standing in her new set of clothes, except the skirt really bothered him.

"Good, let us go to True Cross Academy," Raziel said and the two angels gathered their things and left the small room, then headed out of the ryokan they stayed in.

* * *

Amitiel found herself staring up at the tall building of the train station. A fresh gust of warm air licked her as the automatic doors opened. Amitiel followed Raziel through the building, since he seemed to know where he was going. She mainly just dragged her suitcase behind Raziel while observing every person that was within sight. She looked for a sign, a sign of a demonic presence. That was what Raziel told her to do, demons can hide basically everywhere, and the fact that most people couldn't see these monsters proved a great advantage for demons to smuggle into Assiah without anything noticing them.

At least, in the past that was an advantage, until humanity has discovered exorcism, and there grew men and women specialized with the ability to see demons and prevent these demons from terrorizing this world, and send them back into their own hellish dimension, laying down their secretive lives for their own race to protect this world from destruction.

Angels, and what they call their world Heaven, had given these humans the knowledge of exorcism—yet very few believed in that fact.

Despite herself being an angel, Amitiel was an amateur when it comes to exorcism. She would never allow herself to be alone with a demon, unless she were fighting for her own death that is. Raziel decided to monitor her, to train her. Somehow she must be able to fight demons independently, and Raziel was the solution. She started training not too long ago, so she never gained experience on the field. She never really went on real demon hunts until a few years ago. It seemed so easy when she observed Raziel on a hunt, but it was quite a different experience when she was the one on the hunt—last time almost got her killed. She watched her mentor as if he was like a hungry predator chasing its prey, but in her position, _she_ was the prey.

Raziel and Amitiel walked over to an open ticket booth. Raziel did all the talking and paying, of course. Amitiel merely stood still, quiet, and innocent, observing the people walking by with her brown eyes. Raziel thanked the man and the man passed the two tickets across the gap of the glass window.

"This is a perfect opportunity for you to hone your linguistic competence in Japanese," Raziel suggested to the angel beside him. Amitiel only shrugged her shoulders. In truth, she didn't quite enjoy talking to humans, not because she was shy, or that she wasn't great at speaking Japanese, but she just didn't want to socialize with them. She wasn't fond of humans, anyways. Although she prefers to speak her mother language, Latin, Raziel forced her to speak Japanese upon arriving here in Japan.

Amitiel blinked when she saw a firm hand handing her ticket over in front of her face. She blinked again and took the ticket from Raziel's hand. She looked down at the ticket and asked, "so when's our ride?"

"Not for another half-hour," Raziel responded after he slipped his ticket down his coat's pocket. Amitiel nodded and observed around herself, her eyes swam across the large mass of faces that walked by. The angels walked into the platform of the station. The railway was silent and empty with no _Shinkansen_ in sight, but it was filled with people awaiting for their ride, all of them were lined up in front of the railways. The large space was dim and dark from the lack of sunlight and the faint glow of the lighting around the buildings. It was still very early and dark, and the sun wasn't expected to come out for another hour. Amitiel did notice many demons were inhabiting the dark air. She wondered if many hid in the dark, awaiting to strike their victim like that demon almost did to Amitiel.

Every day, she would see so many demons, almost too many— especially in the night; the time when demons were the most lively and active. The most common ones that were seen were _Coal Tars_, which were buzzing around like black flies. Honestly, she actually enjoyed squishing the little things with her hands. Their tiny, round bodies would burst inside her clenched fist, and when she opened her hand, all that was left was the black carcasses of the demon. As it looks, it seems that there are few exorcists left, and there are more demons instead. What might happen to this world without the exorcists?

Amitiel's thoughts had ended with the howl of the _Shinkansen_ passing out of the tunnel. Metal screeched to a stop as the _Shinkansen_ halted. The angels followed the people in when the doors slid open. Upon entering the bullet train, Amitiel noticed the appearance and structure looked like that of a jet. There were rows of two on each side of the _Shinkansen_, and it was well illuminated. People filed into the train and sat on their assigned seats, and some were busy packing away their possessions. Raziel repeatedly looked between his ticket and around the train, searching for his and Amitiel's seats. Raziel snaked his way through the people until he found their seats. Raziel offered Amitiel the inside of the row and she took it.

Raziel sat down, then looked to the back of the train and then to the front. He and Amitiel sat quietly and patiently as the people around them were busy. Raziel tilted his head when he saw a newspaper article rolled up and tucked into the pocket of the seat in front of him. He pulled it out and unrolled it. Amitiel watched as Raziel took out his black-rimmed glasses from one of his many pockets and fixed them on the bridge of his nose.

Amitiel let out a heavy sigh, since Raziel's attention was buried in the newspaper. She rested her arm on the armchair and her chin rested on her curled up hand. She looked out the window, struggling to stay awake.

Amitiel shifted her weight and looked up at Raziel, but he still didn't pay attention except on the newspaper. She then saw and old woman passing through with confusion. She looked around for what Amitiel assumed was her seat. She watched as Raziel drifted his attention from the newspaper, noticed her confused state, and asked, "ma'am, are you lost?" Amitiel just watched as Raziel helped the old women find her seat, which turns out to be right behind them. Amitiel could only furrow her eyebrows; she didn't understand it. She never wanted to help others, perhaps because it didn't concern her. Unless something had happened that affected Amitiel, she didn't bother to care.

"Why did you have to do that?" Amitiel asked as if Raziel did something wrong. Raziel's green eyes turned towards dark brown ones. He raised an eyebrow and gave her a scornful look. "Helping others isn't a sin, Amitiel," he said sternly.

Amitiel looked away from his gaze and faced the window. "Yes but, she's got nothing to do with us. She doesn't need help from us, she can find her seat on her own, which so happens to be right behind us." Amitiel looked at Raziel with no sign of emotion.

Amitiel's response quickly earned her a blazing gaze. "Quit acting so irreverent, Amitiel!" Raziel said with indignity in his tone as he smacked the back of her head, which provoked her to yip. He looked away, firmly fixed his newspaper in his hands, and added harshly, "you will not get far in life if you do not change that attitude of yours. I understand that it is difficult for us angels to apprehend, but you must try to empathize." Amitiel only sighed, quite confused at his reaction since she didn't understand what she did to receive such a reaction. After all, she was just stating the truth about her opinion. She rested the whole weight of her head onto her hand resting up on the arm of the chair.

_Empathy_. She had no idea how that feels.

Amitiel heard on the intercom inside the _Shinkansen_ announcing the beginning of the travel. Soon after the announcement was finished, the train budged and its speed began the gradually increase. Minutes later, Amitiel watched as everything out of the window zipped passed her, it was going so fast it looked as if the whole scenery outside was blurry. The lights of the city glittered as the train passed through. The scenery was wiped off as soon as the Shinkansen entered a tunnel. Lights flashed by, illuminating the inside with an orange glow, which quickly faded and plunged the inside back into darkness, followed by another set of orange lights.

Amitiel was distracted from staring outside when the cry of a baby reached her ears. She looked beside and there sat a young family with a baby in the mother's hands. The baby was crying loudly, and the parents were getting restless. Amitiel wondered why the baby was crying so much—since its wailing bothered her ears. Out of nowhere, she saw a drop of black fluid plop onto the seat, just centimeters away from hitting the woman, she also noticed some of the stuff on the baby. Amitiel's gaze climbed up as she knew exactly what was there. A large mass of black gathered around the family on the ceiling of the train. That mass of black goo was composed of _Coal Tars_ bundled together; they're much more dangerous when grouped together.

Amitiel reached down for her blade sheathed under her skirt without a thought. She tried to step pass Raziel but she suddenly felt a very tight grip on her wrist with the blade in hand. She looked at Raziel in confusion as he slowly lowered the newspaper and looked up at her. His green eyes showed grim disapproval at her decision.

"Leave it be." He said slowly but seriously.

Amitiel sat back down without hesitation. Raziel released her wrist and Amitiel fell back on her seat with no sign of irritation. She sheathed her silver blade and crossed her arms. "There's a demon, I must stop it," she stated.

"You will draw too much unwanted attention. These people do not know about the supernatural. Draw your weapon in public and you will be subject to arrest by the humans," Raziel said without looking back at her, remaining his eyes on the paper. "The last thing to run into is the police," he added.

Amitiel remained silent as Raziel looked aside at the family struggling to quiet their child. "Besides, Amitiel, you cannot just help others because a demon is involved. There are many things—excluding demons—that can put a human's life at risk." Amitiel sank herself into the seat, which was surprisingly comfy. Her eyelids slowly drooped lower and lower, until she felt Raziel move and her eyes opened up.

Raziel looked up menacingly at the demon above them. It bubbled and giggled, laughing at the hopeless family. Raziel continued to glare at the intruder as he slowly unfurled one of his wings. Amitiel watched as light began to glow beside Raziel out of thin air, forming the shape of a long, broad, avian wing. The wing outstretched and hovered above the whole family. Raziel's wing glowed a whitish gold. Light radiated from every feather, every part of the wing. Anyone who would have seen his wings would have been blinded. It was much brighter and larger than her wings. Suspended above the family, Raziel's wing seemed to act as an umbrella; a shield for the family.

Amitiel noticed a drop of black fluid from the demon dropped and landed onto Raziel's wing. Amitiel jolted when Raziel made a sudden wince. The goo began to sizzle on his wing, which caused another wince coming from Raziel, and a pained grimace on his face. The black goo sizzled through the glowing wing, merging in with the light, than disappeared, as if absorbed by the wing.

_Why would he be in so much pain just to protect complete strangers?_ Amitiel thought. She was dumbfounded. She didn't understand this at all. She didn't understand what he was doing—and why.

Raziel groaned and responded at Amitiel's mental thought, "because our lives are devoted to protect humans, not just killing demons. We protect humans from demons." He winced when another drop of the demon's fluids landed and sizzled on his wing. "I would endure so much pain to protect these people, you should too, you've kept your word on the promise you've made with Heaven," Raziel stopped and sucked in his breath when many drops of the demon's fluid dropped onto his wing. "Would you rather have a family receive _Temptaint_, and suffer seeing and dealing with the dark side of reality? Or would you do anything to prevent that, so that they can live happy and unafraid?" He grimaced again. Amitiel didn't know what to say.

A waiter walked through the aisle with a meal on his tray. He walked towards the end of the _Shinkansen_. He was coming closer. Closer towards them. Raziel's wing was still outstretched, completely blocking the man's way through the aisle. Amitiel watched calmly and Raziel remained relaxed as the man passed right through his glowing wing, as if he was just passing through air. The part of his wing the man made contact with spread out like dust with the waiter. The waiter stopped suddenly as he felt a surge of energy rush through him. He blinked constantly and looked around confusingly, but then continued walking. Raziel's wing quickly reformed and it was whole again.

Amitiel followed her stare as the man continued walking down the aisle. It was a great advantage that no humans could be able to perceive an angel's wings, unless the angel chose to expose them. If they saw their wings, the human eye could not handle that much radiation, and they would go blind.

Amitiel turned away from the man and rested her head on the seat. She relaxed as she closed her eyes, hoping her vessel will get the sleep it missed. Raziel seemed to have endured the pain of the demon's fluids. A half an hour later, the demon had gotten bored and decided to leave and annoy someone else. Raziel withdrew his wing towards him and his wing merged into the air, then disappeared.

Amitiel realized the baby in the mother's arms was snoozing peacefully.

* * *

"Humans... built _that_?" Amitiel remarked as a large, detailed building loomed over the city horizon, with the train approaching it. It was morning, and the sun had risen into the sky, allowing the building Amitiel was observing to be clearer to see. She pressed her palms against the glass window and observed in curiosity at the mysterious building, she doubted if it was even built by humans. It wasn't anything she expected humans to build, she saw tall, skinny buildings Raziel called "skyscrapers", however this building in particular was unique. It was tall like those skyscrapers, yet it looked more like a mountain of edifices. It was so large in width yet it was tall in length, she was guessing it was True Cross Academy, based on the crosses that stood on the tips of the many towers. Amitiel continued to eye the enigmatic building as Raziel spoke to her.

"Human civilization is approaching our own. Our god gifted these humans with very extraordinary intellectual capacity, some surpass even us. We use our supernatural abilities to build, but humans, who are born without potential power, have used their bare hands to create these... marvelous architectural works of art. What is your opinion on them?" Raziel asked and turned his head to the blond.

"Okay... I guess..." Amitiel said solemnly. Raziel had difficulty making out what she really felt, but by that monotone voice of hers—she didn't care.

"One day you will understand," Raziel continued. "When you become wiser, you will appreciate these humans and the incredible things they can do."

"I shan't," Amitiel responded, without looking back at Raziel. "They're... they're too flawed. They're easily subject to temptation. All they care about is themselves, how foolish is that?" Raziel remained silent as Amitiel spilled out what Raziel thought were atrocities. Amitiel was viewed by Raziel as honest, almost too honest. Of course he forgot to expect these words coming out of her mouth, because whatever comes from Amitiel is only the truth.

"They murder each other, Raziel," Amitiel continued. "If it were not for their faulty and corrupted minds, we wouldn't have to babysit them from Lucifer and his demons. _He_ should just start over."

At this point, Amitiel had drawn the line. Raziel couldn't keep himself collected anymore. "Do not utter such blasphemous words, Amitiel!" Raziel shouted as he smacked the back of her head again, Amitiel let out a sound, and turned her head to Raziel.

Raziel slowly shook his head as he scolded her, although Amitiel didn't understand what the punishment was about for saying the truth.

The angels watched patiently as the train slowed down in front of True Cross Academy's train station, and it was there that Amitiel noticed people resembling her age were all wearing the same uniform she wore at this moment. Amitiel and Raziel watched as everyone was preparing to board off the train. People fetched their possessions and some were already ready. Amitiel looked around then stretched her arms up, releasing a large yawn.

Amitiel stood up and held onto a seat for support and stabilization. She followed Raziel towards the doors, with many people gathering, waiting for them to open. Amitiel leaned her heavy head onto the small metal bar. The angels noticed some people began to become impatient and complained about what was taking so long to open the doors. After many complaints started to spread around like a virus, Raziel grabbed the latch and tugged on it, but it didn't open. Raziel looked back at Amitiel, warning her of a possible event that is to come.

"_Proverbium est phantasma_?" Amitiel asked.

Before Raziel could reply the doors swung open, and people pooled out of the train, pushing each other through. Raziel and Amitiel were pushed out of the train, and Raziel caught Amitiel by the arm when she lost her balance. Amitiel clutched the handle of her suitcase and the angels walked away. Raziel had a cautious eye on the train before he also turned around and walked away.

* * *

**A/N: Whew, another one down… 50 more to go (?) I have no idea yet haha. So this is the chapter that further introduces Raziel, my second AnE OC. He's a bit of a minor character to start with, but hopefully he'll take part in larger roles in the future.**

**for the next chapter, I wonder how Amitiel will interact with the canon characters? ;)**

**As per usual, REVIEWS PLEASE! I have already gotten some lovely reviews from amazing people! All thanks goes to **_**Sora Arashitori, Karen, **_**and**_** Goldlock**_** for their reviews!**


	4. Chapter 3: First Impression—第一印象—

**Disclaimer: Blue Exorcist (****青の祓魔師（エクソシスト****)) belongs to Kazue Kato. This is created for entertainment purposes only, no profit was made. Please support the author by purchasing her books!**

* * *

_**天使火災**__** —**__**Angel Fire**_

_**Chapter 3: **__**第一印象**__**—**__**First Impression**_

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**"So this is True Cross Academy..." The girl named Amitiel said as her gaze climbed up to the top of the building.** Its size seemed to have intimidated her, but still, she was finally here. Whatever she heard from that demon during his conversation must be true... or else she would have already known he lied to her and she would be somewhere else in Japan. If what he implied was what she was looking for, then it must be here. However, her senses were telling her to urge through the doors and find out if that demon wasn't fooling her.

Amitiel followed Raziel up the long stairway up to the massive entrance to the academy. Amitiel pushed open one of the doors and a warm, breezy wind blew past her until she found herself standing in a massive open space the size of a football field. Everything in and out of the building looked exquisite and delicate, designed only for the most prestigious. Amitiel looked down and under them stood the glass-like flooring, with the large academy crest etched into the glass in the middle of the space. Amitiel noticed a shining reflection in the glass and looked up to find a large crystal chandelier suspended above the angels. The hallways were basically filled with long, glass windows on the walls with beautiful, majestic red drapes. There wasn't a single defect in the architecture and design of this building; it was _perfect_.

Aside from the luxury of True Cross Academy, Amitiel didn't stop to gaze in wonder at the building for very long. She fixed her eyes as she searched the students in her sight. One by one she scanned them, looking for _it_. If intel was correct, the Son of Satan must be here, however...

"He's... not here. I can't feel his presence anywhere," Amitiel finally said. "The demon said he was here. He _lied_," Amitiel continued, and Raziel looked down to her. Despite no part of her face moved to show anger, the essence around her felt almost threatening.

In a second, Amitiel swung around and began walking towards the doors, until a firm grip on her shoulder prevented her from moving any farther. Amitiel looked back to her shoulder and found out Raziel himself was holding her.

"No, what he said was true. Satan's son _is_ here," Raziel responded without looking back at her.

What Raziel said puzzled her. "He's here? But I don't feel his presence," Amitiel's eyes narrowed in suspicion. Indeed, how can she not sense his presence, but Raziel was able to sense it himself? Perhaps because she forgot the fact that Raziel was one of the top angels in her dimension. Of course, she knew he was stronger than her, and his sensory abilities were much keener than hers.

"I know that, Amitiel. Your senses are not able to detect certain demons, let alone Satan's son." Raziel spoke and released his grip on her shoulder. He lowered his voice as he continued, "he must be skilled at cloaking his identity. I find this quite odd, do you?" Raziel asked and looked down at Amitiel, who didn't know what to say.

"You must take into consideration that the son of Satan is hidden within his own enemies. I must admit that would be the most simple-minded idea, yet at the same time... it is also brilliant indeed," Raziel spoke, Amitiel's attention drifted away as she only focused on the fact that Satan's son was right here in the same building. She was getting close.

"So the demon was right. Then I must go," Amitiel said and with that, began to walk deeper into the academy. She felt her blade strapped under her skirt and was preparing to unsheathe it when Raziel stopped her again. Amitiel turned around without a sign of annoyance crossing her face.

"Did you memorize your identity? Remember that, in this academy, you will no longer identify yourself as Amitiel. You are a human, no angel. Use your blade only when necessary, do not draw it in public or use it to harm any humans. Use your gift to uncover the lies hiding the identity of the son of Satan. Do you understand these rules?" Raziel looked at her with a hard look in his eyes.

"Yes, Raziel," Amitiel responded in loyalty. Raziel nodded his head and focused his attention behind Amitiel when an odd man stood out from the crowd. This odd man was dressed in a clownish attire walking with an umbrella oscillating gently around his left hand. His face was hidden under the shadow of his white top hat and his long purple side bangs. When Raziel's gaze followed the man's, his eyes narrowed in hostility when his eyes crossed paths with a demon, knowing exactly who was before him.

Amitiel immediately reached down for her blade and Raziel gripped her hand, forcing her to stop and release the blade back into its sheath.

"Not yet," Raziel said patiently as the demon squinted his eyes, then widened at the recognition of the two angels. The man approached the two angels with a wide smile, with the umbrella swinging delicately in the demon's gloved hand.

"Well, well, I haven't seen you Mr. Tanaka for quite some time." The demon smiled, yet at the same time, the smile he was giving didn't seem as friendly as it seems.

"Neither have I, Mr. Faust," Raziel responded without returning the smile, and Amitiel knew he was not pleased by his presence. She assumed they had some hostility going on between them.

"So... this is your daughter?" The demon maintained his smile, but Raziel frowned. The demon named Faust made eye contact with Amitiel, and he could tell in her dark eyes she wasn't really welcoming. "For an experienced exorcist such as yourself, I am honoured that you've enrolled your daughter into my academy," Mr. Faust remarked and observed Amitiel with a keen eye.

Raziel looked down as he pushed aside his hate and responded civilly, "it is my honour to serve you."

Both Raziel and the demon bowed towards each other. Amitiel was about to say something but decided to keep her mouth shut. She knew every word coming out of the angel's and demon's mouths were all just lies. She felt them lie. What kind of relationship with that demon had Raziel just made? He wasn't working with a demon, is he? Worse, was he actually working _for_ a demon?

"Well, I must also introduce myself to you, Tanaka-san. My name is Johann Faust V, I am the director of True Cross Academy," and with that said, the demon removed his hat in politeness and shook the angel's hand. Amitiel still maintained a blank stare on the demon. "Please, allow myself to guide you to your first classroom," the demon offered, and Raziel accepted. As Amitiel and Raziel walked past the demon, Raziel caught the demon's devilish gaze, his bright forest-green eyes stood out from the dark shadow of his hat. Raziel shot an intimidating glare at the director and reluctantly followed the demon.

Amitiel spoke in her head in Latin. _Who is he really? He's a demon, why would you even bow down to a monster?_ Amitiel's voice filled Raziel's head.

Raziel let out a small, quiet exhale. _He is recognized by many names, including the common name Mephisto Pheles, however, I know him personally as Samael, the king of Time and Satan's second son._ Raziel responded.

Instead of letting out a surprised gasp, Amitiel only blinked a few times without saying anything. Amitiel nodded her head in understanding, and reached down for her sheath.

_Aren't we supposed to exorcise demons? Why do you even allow him to even walk foot in Assiah?_ Amitiel inquired.

_It is... quite complicated. You could say that Samael and I have had quite a history..._ Raziel trailed away, leaving Amitiel to question him in silence. Suddenly, Amitiel realized she wasn't in the same, open foyer anymore, instead, she found herself in an empty hallway, with the walls containing many doors. It doesn't seem like there was a ceiling at all, the walls just seemed to fade out into blackness as Amitiel continued to look up, unless the walls were just _that_ tall. All the doors had the same unique stained-glass patterns on it in many different colours. Amitiel watched as Mephisto stood in front of one of the doors in particular. He gazed up at it, then turned his demonic glance towards the angels.

"This is the first classroom you'll be attending for exorcism," Mephisto said as he stood and looked ahead at the colorful door. Amitiel observed the empty, narrow hall from both ways then followed Mephisto's gaze on the door, which was numbered _1106_. "... If you have any troubles, do not hesitate to speak to me," Mephisto concluded.

Amitiel just remained still, she looked ahead at the door. All that was running through her mind is what might lie beyond this colourful door. Could it be the truth? Or a lie? Either way, Amitiel will eventually find out. She reached for the knob when Raziel interrupted.

"Give me your suitcase, you would not want to drag that around." Amitiel allowed Raziel to take her suitcase. "Be sure to return to your dorm right after classes."

"Yes, Raziel," Amitiel responded obediently, and Mephisto couldn't help thinking how much of a loyal, respectful daughter she must be.

"Swell," Raziel said, then turned towards Mephisto. "While we go on a nice evening stroll, I would like to have a word with you, Mr. Faust."

Mephisto lowered his head with his wide smile, revealing his sharp, glossy fangs, "very well."

Amitiel watched as Raziel and Mephisto walked away until they disappeared in the darkness down the hallway. Amitiel finally turned her head towards the knob, placed her hand on it, and then twisted it. She gave a push and the door opened, creaking.

She looked inside and observed the classroom, then her eyebrows furrowed. For some reason, the room looked rundown, abandoned; paintings were crooked, forest green paint peeled off the walls, some lights were burnt out, and wires hanged from the ceiling. One second she was inside a beautiful, luxurious building, the next it looked like she stepped into an abandoned room that hasn't been used in decades.

She didn't move away from the door and observed the people. Near the wall opposite to the door, there were three boys; one was bald with glasses and one with pink hair—who winked at her, followed by a hard slap on his shoulder by a tall one with a yellow streak running through the center of his dark brown hair, he seemed to have a rough look with the piercings in his ears. In the middle of the classroom, in the back, sat a… hooded person and a boy who seemed to be talking to a puppet in his hand.

There was a girl with purple hair in long pigtails sitting at a desk, closest to the door. She had noticeably small, rounded eyebrows as well as crimson eyes. The girl laid her chin in her palms and looked at Amitiel with an unpleasant face. Beside her was also another girl with very short, layered brown hair and a complexion as soft as milk. She looked delicate. In the front sat a boy and a girl. The girl was wearing the traditional Japanese apparel, a _kimono_, they called it. She had blond, shoulder length hair and a soft face with innocent emerald eyes. She was the only student in the quiet room that smiled at her.

Amitiel blinked and looked away without returning the smile, which caused the girl's smile to drain away. Amitiel then observed the boy beside her, he had dark blue hair which rested in messy strands of bangs and vivid blue eyes. His skin looked paler due to his dark hair. The color of his hair and eyes were quite striking to the eye. He merely observed her with somnolent eyes.

Amitiel knew that maybe, by any slight chance, one of these students could be him, but there wasn't a single student that was aflame, so she came to a theory that maybe he can control his flames. However, that would never make sense. Amitiel then threw away the possibility that the son of Satan can control his own flames, not even the Devil himself can control them. Amitiel forgot that this small room was just a part of True Cross Academy, there was still a lot of ground to cover. He could be anywhere in True Cross Academy.

With a bland expression on her face, Amitiel turned around and walked out of the door, leaving a few of the students exchanging confused glances and frowns, only to bump into what she assumed was the teacher, who appeared at the door at the right moment. He seemed to resemble a lot like the students' age. She looked up and saw he was tall with short brown hair. The first thing Amitiel saw were his round, soft, teal eyes. Over his eyes he wore black-rimmed glasses. She also noticed he had a few moles on his face, and wore the usual exorcist uniform. He fixed his glasses and smiled, and Amitiel tried to walk past him, but the teacher closed the door on her.

Amitiel looked up with her dark eyes staring straight into his teal eyes. She felt slightly imprisoned, but the teacher only smiled and responded, "what enters in my classroom, stays in my classroom."

Amitiel turned a shoulder on the teacher and found an empty desk right in front of the door and the two girls. Amitiel sat down on the seat and crossed her arms and legs. She watched the teacher silently as he walked over to his desk across the door, with a briefcase in hand. Amitiel lowered her head but maintained her gaze on the teacher, when suddenly she felt someone staring at her. She shot a glance at no other but the blue-haired boy, who was also accompanied by the blond-haired girl. Amitiel looked away, ignoring his gaze on her. Truthfully, she didn't care if people would look at her. But what caught her attention was the fact that he was not staring at her, but at her long blade that was completely exposed instead of sitting under her skirt. Amitiel unsheathed her blade and quickly drove it into the surface of the wooden desk, creating a sharp sound. The boy gulped and cringed, while the girl let out a small gasp. Amitiel leaned her back on the chair and rested. She knew he wanted to see it, so she let him, yet she was unaware that most of the students had their attention on her—including the teacher.

"Excuse me, that is school property you have damaged. Would you like to pay for that?" The teacher asked sharply, but Amitiel only remained silent as she ripped the blade off the wood, leaving a deep cut in the wood.

The next thing that happened, the bell rang. Amitiel observed as the students pulled out their textbooks and other school supplies.

The teacher spoke, "alright, welcome back students. I hope the first day yesterday was a good start for this class. Now, I have an announcement to make, it seems we have two new students today: Shiemi Moriyama and Hana Tanaka." The exorcist looked up as the two students stood up and walked towards the front of the classroom. Amitiel stood beside the blond, and she noticed the blond was shorter than her. She had exquisite floral patterns decorating her pink kimono, which graduated into a soft turquoise-green at the ends of the dress and sleeves.

"I-It's a p-pleasure to meet you all!" The blond stuttered quickly and threw her head down in a sincere bow. The students greeted her, and the blond moved quickly to sit beside the blue-haired boy.

Amitiel just stood silently in the front of the class. After some unwanted silence, the teacher added, "Tanaka-san? Tell us a little about yourself." Amitiel took a moment to think about her new identity, and decided to replay everything that was on her record.

"Hana Tanaka, 15, born July 18 in Chiba, Japan, 52 kilograms, 170 centimeters, blond hair, brown eyes, blood type is B and is currently attending True Cross Academy." Silence filled the room, Amitiel looked patiently with a straight face around the class, some students made some faces.

The teacher was able to break the silence as he added, confused, "very... elaborated, thank you."

Amitiel didn't say anything.

"Well, I might as well introduce myself. My name is Yukio Okumura and I will be your anti-demon pharmaceuticals instructor," the exorcist named Yukio smiled warmly at the angel.

"Nice to meet you, now I must make my leave," Amitiel announced as she was about to turn around towards the door.

"Pardon me?" Yukio asked with a raise of his eyebrow. But instead of expecting a reply, Amitiel continued to walk towards the door when Yukio called her, " Tanaka-san, wait!"

"I must make my leave, now," Amitiel said with her back faced towards the exorcist and the students.

"Class hasn't ended yet, nevertheless, it just started—so please sit down," Yukio said, and the angel turned towards the exorcist with a monotone glance.

"No, I will not. I have to do something incredibly important. I am looking for something..." Amitiel trailed off as she looked at the students one last time before continuing, "—and it's not here."

"Tanaka-san, I will ask you to please sit down. Unless you'd like to be sent to the director's office, that is," the young exorcist warned.

"I do not take orders from you, or any human being. I will make my leave," Amitiel stared down at the exorcist as the students just watched silently at the conversation in front of them.

"I'm afraid that won't happen," Yukio responded as he began to stand up. Yukio furrowed his eyebrows when the angel suddenly charged towards him and smacked her hand on his desk, which created some shocked expressions from the students.

Amitiel lowered her gaze while looking at the exorcist's frustrated eyes, "dismiss me, human, or else—"

"_OI!_ Back away from Yukio, you stupid bitch!"

Amitiel stopped and spun her hand around to find the blue-eyed boy bolting up and charging his way towards her.

"Excuse me? Are you a part of this conversation? No," Amitiel spoke, no sign of anger was present in her voice, but the boy saw in her eyes she had a menacing aura.

"I am when you're messing with my brother, that's what," he grit his teeth together as he stood face to face with the angel, their heights were almost the same—yet he was still taller than her. He glared at her with a fiery gaze, yet it seems this girl wasn't at all afraid of him.

"This doesn't involve an ignorant eavesdropper like you," Amitiel back talked at the blue-haired boy. The young teenager only grit his teeth harder as his hands curled up into fists, he clenched them so hard his knuckles turned white.

"Why you—!" The boy yelled angrily and raised his fist, but he was cut off when he felt the blond's grip on his shirt and a sharp pain shot against his throat. He noticed the girl's blade was positioned right at his throat, not enough to slice through his skin, but enough to cause discomfort and shock.

"Hey, what the hell?!" The boy yelped as his brother tried to separate the two.

"Nii-san!" The exorcist cried and the boy broke free from the girl's surprisingly strong grip and rammed her against the blackboard, his fist was held suspended above him, awaiting to strike the girl, who showed no sign of shock. His veins were on fire now, and he was about to lay his fist across the angel's face until a warm, familiar hand covered his fist. He looked aside to find the exorcist named Yukio holding his fist between him and the girl.

"Yuki!" The young blonde behind them cried out.

"Nii-san, stop it, right now!" Yukio ordered his brother, with a tremendously worried look on his face, mixed in with frustration.

"She deserves it," the angered teen growled. He didn't quite understand what his brother was doing that was keeping him from doing it. The fact that she disrespected his own brother, or if anyone disrespected his own family, was the worst, unforgivable thing a human being could ever do to him. The teenager looked at the angel with blazing blue eyes through his dark bangs. His anger was scorching through him like a forest fire, raging into every part of his body, nearly impossible to put out. He wanted to defend Yukio from getting teased. All throughout his childhood, his brother was picked on, and the teen didn't want his brother to go through that hell again.

"It's not worth getting yourself in trouble. _Control yourself_," Yukio lowered his voice, emphasizing the importance of the last sentence, however, his brother remained quiet as he stared at the girl with a heavy breath.

Amitiel looked straight into the boy's vivid eyes, and realized something important_. Use your blade only when necessary, do not draw it in public or use it to harm any humans_, Raziel had said a while ago. Amitiel slowly lowered her blade, and the teenager released her with a push, lowering his fist.

"Bitch," the boy added.

Amitiel remained silent, and just noticed that the exorcist reached over and took the blade away from her hand. She didn't protest.

"I need you to step outside," Yukio commanded, and Amitiel remained silent, she saw that the boy shot her a fiery gaze. Yukio gestured the angel to the door and followed her, until he turned a shoulder and added,"... by the way, Nii-san... we _will _discuss this later."

The boy stood still as the blond girl ran to his side. She turned around to face him and asked, "a-are you okay?"

"I'm fine," the boy spat, he walked away with an angered expression on his face and sat back in his seat.

The exorcist closed the door behind him, secluding himself and Amitiel from the classroom and into the silent, never-ending hallway.

"Do you even regret what you've just committed?" The exorcist asked in indignation as he laid his hands on his hips. Amitiel noticed he carried two guns on his belt. Amitiel looked at him with a calm, silent look while leaning her body against the wall in the hallway. Yukio didn't quite make out what she was feeling, but from the bland look on her face, it looked as if she didn't care.

Yukio was vexed. "I cannot even begin to compensate your actions, so I'm afraid I'm going to have to send you to the director's office," Yukio sighed and fixed his glasses. So far, he wasn't ending his day too well. Yukio forgot about the intricate blade in his hand and added, "... until you behave more safely around the others, I will be keeping your... dagger."

"Am I your prisoner, now?" Amitiel asked calmly.

"... You're giving me a strong first impression, and I'm not impressed by it," Yukio frowned as he folded his arms. "I will notify the director that you'll be at his office," Yukio concluded, and with that said, Amitiel was sent off to her destination. She walked away slowly as the teacher returned into the classroom, however, instead of expecting the angel to feel guilty about her actions, she wasn't—not in the slightest. Instead of heading to the office, Amitiel decided to take the free time searching throughout the rest of the academy.

"I apologize for her behaviour, I assure you it won't happen again," Yukio sighed again and formed a forced, tired smile.

"She's not... dangerous, is she?" The pink-haired teen asked tentatively, and the blue-haired boy frowned.

* * *

It was quiet, for a busy, populated academy, the halls were empty and quiet. Amitiel walked through one of the many empty halls, she was no longer in the cram school halls. Amitiel looked down at a key Raziel gave her earlier, apparently the cram school was a secret board in the academy, owned by the Knights of the True Cross, or better yet—the Vatican. This key was the only entrance to this secret place when she placed it into any school door. All exorcists and trainees have access to the secret halls of the cram school. She wasn't as surprised as one would expect, since magic like this enchanted key was more common within her and Hell's dimension.

Amitiel reached over to the sheath on her leg but remembered that she was no longer armed, and with that, Amitiel sighed. She assumed she must find the son of Satan without the aid of a weapon—which proved impossible as Amitiel felt lost.

"Where...? Why is this so hard ... The demon said he was here but... _where_?" Amitiel whispered to herself, she was thinking of summoning Raziel, but she reconsidered since he also had another job to do. The angel locked her arms together as she walked silently in the halls, illuminated by a bright light from the sun passing through the large windows. The warm feeling of the sun soothed her. Amitiel closed her eyes as she stood in front of a window, embracing the warm sunshine hitting her face. Her moment was soon distracted when she heard a yelp—more like a small bark. Amitiel looked around herself, until she realized the noise came from the ground. She looked down to find a small, white Scottish terrier staring up at her with its round puppy eyes.

The girl gave the dog a bored stare and passed over the dog and continued walking, avoiding the demon in disguise.

"My, that was rude, no good afternoon for your director?"

Amitiel knew that voice came from the dog itself, but she wasn't impressed. She stopped and looked over her shoulder as she spat bluntly, "you're a demon." Soon after that, a puff of dazzling pink smoke filled the area around the angel. Amitiel tried to blow away the strange smoke until it dissipated. There stood none other but the King of Time, Samael.

"Tanaka-san! How rude of you to call your headmaster that!" Mephisto grinned as he covered his mouth with his fingers, showing no offence in what she said—since it was true.

"You are one. I see it," Amitiel added over her shoulder.

"Well, you have very sharp eyes, indeed. How was your first day, hmm?" Samael asked.

Amitiel paused a moment and replied,"... it was brutal."

"Brutal? How's that?" Mephisto said while maintaining his devilish smile. "I received notification from Mr. Okumura about your... unruly behaviour, I expected it to be about Okumura-kun, like usual."

"Okumura-kun? You mean his brother?" Amitiel's eyes narrowed, as she turned around to face the demon.

"Yes, you've met in that classroom, correct?" Mephisto tilted his head back as he looked down at her in superiority.

"Yes, so that's the name of that blue-eyed boy ..." Amitiel recalled to herself.

"Blue-eyed Boy? So what do you think of him, then?"

Amitiel paused to take a breath. "...He's a nuisance," Amitiel said simply with a stoic expression on her face.

Samael waved his hand away, as if gesturing Amitiel ignore, "oh, I wouldn't bother with him... he's... quite different than the rest."

"Different? How so?" Amitiel raised an eyebrow, the demon's reply piqued her interest.

"He's... _special_, let's say," Samael responded again with an enigmatic answer. Amitiel concluded to never expect a straight answer from Samael.

_Special? What?_ Amitiel thought. Is this demon implying about that boy's possible family relation with an exorcist? What about him makes him so special? Because of that, Amitiel felt drawn into interest for the young boy.

Amitiel looked back at the hall ahead of her and moved, leaving the director without an appropriate farewell.

"Farewell to you too, Tanaka-san," Mephisto called out.

"I don't say farewell to monsters," Amitiel quickly responded. _Unless I want to exorcise them_, she thought. Of course, she was no match against Samael, and the fact she wasn't armed proved her situation worst. Since the halls were empty, what was the point of searching if no one is to be found? Instead, Amitiel decided to go to her dorm, where she promised Raziel.

"My, what a strange girl she is," Mephisto spoke to himself as he turned around and walked away in the opposite direction.

* * *

**A/N: Okay, nothing to say here...maybe? All I can say is Amitiel's not off to a good start because she IS a little stupid sometimes but oh well**

**On the side note, for those who haven't caught up on the manga, you won't understand this. I had a dream last night that Izumo was rescued from the Illuminati. I guess the whole gang was facing off against Pig Face and his crew, and Izumo was with us. I think I was actually Shiemi in my dream, but I just looked at Izumo, held out my hand for her, and she actually took it and squeezed my hand. She smiled. I think that was the first time Izumo felt safe and grateful with Shiemi. Oh God, my own persona just wanted to scream and strangle Pig Face with my bare hands, but then my dream ended when I had my usual coughing spells (I have a cough, and a stubborn one at that -_-). Yah, I guess it just shows how deep I feel about the characters.**

**Anywho, review?**


	5. Chapter 4: Unforgiving—容赦のない

**Disclaimer: Blue Exorcist (****青の祓魔師（エクソシスト****)) belongs to Kazue Kato. This is created for entertainment purposes only, no profit was made. Please support the author by purchasing her books!**

* * *

_**天使火災**__** —**__**Angel Fire**_

_**Chapter 4: Unforgiving—**__**容赦のな**__**い**_

* * *

**". . . Why would Samael assign me the male dorm?" Amitiel asked herself as she stared up at the still building.** After searching around the academy all day, Amitiel decided to head back to where she would stay, however she didn't expect this. Besides the fact it was the male dorm; it looked old, it reminded her of the classroom, actually. She noticed some of the glass on the windows were cracked, some cracks could also be found jagged up from the ground on the walls. Paint peeled from some areas on the walls, and the surface of the building was mostly chipped concrete. The building looked as if it was at the point of collapsing. It also sounded quiet and abandoned. The soft susurrations of the wind added an eerie atmosphere to the lone, isolated building. The thought that the academy was prestigious started to linger away from the blonde's mind.

However, Amitiel wasn't bothered by that at all.

Besides she will be staying in an old, outdated building, Amitiel questioned the reason why this was her assigned dorm. She looked down on her two blond waves resting against her flat chest, for a human, her vessel had quite a small bust compared to other girls. She was flatter than normal. She wondered if Samael even, by any slight chance, thought she was a boy. She heard him address her as "san" back there, so what is the meaning of this?

Amitiel's head filled with unanswered questions as she climbed up the short set of stairs (none of them collapsed). She walked towards the door and opened it, it screeched as she continued to pull on it.

Amitiel walked in, her shoes tapped lightly against the old, scratched up wooden floor. She stood there. The air was so silent, she could see a white, ghostly layer of dust in the air near where the sunlight beamed down, by the windows down the two halls beside each of her sides. She closed the door and it clicked closed after the loud screech. She paused for a moment, realizing that the building _was_ abandoned. She walked down the silent, colourless hallway as she gazed down on her sheet marked with her dorm number: _632_. She turned towards a long hallway and climbed up the set of stairs at the end. She walked down the hallway of the sixth floor as she scanned the numbers engraved on the doors. When she reached her designated room, she unlocked the door with a key and entered.

Amitiel noticed her suitcase rested on her bed positioned at the left corner of the room. A wooden desk laid against a wall beside her bed, accompanied by a simple chair. Amitiel approached it and could tell some dust sat on the wooden surface. A long, narrow window was in between the bed and desk. The glass was so dusty the view from the outside was opaque. Amitiel used the sleeve of her shirt to wipe away some of the dust and looked through the window, and there in the distance stood the dark silhouette of True Cross Academy in front of an orange-red sunset. She withdrew her attention from the window and looked over at the closet at the corner across from the wall of her bed, beside it was a long vanity mirror, covered by a paper-thin layer of dust. She observed her reflection, standing still as she studied her figure from head to toe. She smoothed her skirt down as she breathed out after taking a long inhale of the dusty air. Amitiel turned around and Raziel stood before her, leaning against her desk with his arms crossed.

"Raziel, don't do that," Amitiel suppressed her defensive instincts as she lowered her hand, which was curled up, as if she was holding her blade that was no longer in her sheath. Amitiel looked at her empty hand and looked at Raziel with the same, unafraid look on her face.

Raziel purposely ignored her as he studied the room. "I see you have just arrived," Raziel said, but frowned in suspicion. "What did you do, Amitiel?" He asked, noting her empty sheath. Amitiel didn't hesitate to say the truth.

"I used my blade and almost harmed a human being, so I got it taken away," Amitiel said without regret.

Raziel felt a pain in his temples, and rubbed them with his thumbs. He released an exasperated sigh and said, "have you already forgotten what I told you? If you lay a dangerous move on a human, Heaven will know, and you will suffer the consequences." Raziel ran his fingers through his greying hair as he added, "and those consequences are not amusing."

"Yes, I understand. I repent for my mistakes. I almost disobeyed Heaven, and you, so please forgive me," Amitiel asked Raziel, however, she wasn't exactly begging for it. Amitiel brought her hands together, bowed her head down, and added, "forgive me, for I have committed sin upon the Holy Hosts and God."

Raziel looked down at her in superiority. No matter what, he will never expect a lie coming from Amitiel. She was one of the few angels who would always repent for her mistakes without question. His frown softened and Raziel spoke more softly now, "I forgive you."

Amitiel nodded and accepted his forgiveness, and bowed her head down. Amitiel paused to think of a correct way to ask him something. "Raziel... I need your knowledge on something."

"I know what you have been going through, what you must know is that it is normal," Raziel spoke as he brought his hands together on his laps and intertwined his fingers in a clasp.

"Then tell me, what should I do so I'm no longer hostile towards the cram school students?" She asked as she looked out the opaque window.

"You must abide by the rules, Amitiel. You must do this without drawing any unwanted attention. What you did to the students—that is a prime example of breaking their rules," Raziel answered, and Amitiel only looked back at him, "I only follow yours and Heaven's order, not the academy's."

"Then it is on behalf of my order that you follow the humans' orders," Raziel replied then recapped what he had just said. What he said slightly confused himself. Amitiel seemed to have understood, but she awaited more answers; her eyes were expectant.

Raziel sighed again as he leaned on her desk. "You need to go apologize," Raziel finally said. "Apology cleanses you from guilt; remorse; hatred. Earning their forgiveness will eliminate their feelings about you," Raziel continued with his eyes closed.

"I don't understand, I don't feel guilty, should I?" Amitiel said. Clearly she didn't understand what guilt was, she never came into a situation where she felt guilty.

"You need to try to cooperate with a human's feelings, Amitiel. They have much more complex social interactions than us. You must try to understand what they are telling you and how to properly react to the situation. If you do not act properly, you can make the situation worse. Sometimes words cannot help to forgive, but your acts can," Raziel responded, and added, "how about you draw your weapon only when there is a real demon threatening your safety, and respect people as if you are respecting me."

"I'll understand that," Amitiel nodded to herself, keeping Raziel's words in mind. However, something else came up. "Then I mean no disrespect, but—" Amitiel stood still like usual and asked, "why would Samael assign me this... old dorm?"

"You obviously need a place to rest, Amitiel," Raziel said with a straight face.

"Why did he assign me this dorm?" Amitiel asked again, yet she started to never expect a straight answer from Raziel too.

"You mean myself," Raziel corrected, "I chose to place you in an isolated environment, far away from contact with the humans. This will allow you to stay focused on your task," Raziel answered fully.

"Okay, but _why_ the male dorm?" Amitiel asked, desperate for a convenient answer.

"The "old" male dorm. This one is the only building that is abandoned, it is only you, so this place is yours," Raziel responded calmly.

Amitiel had no complaints regarding Raziel's choice, if this was for the greater good, Amitiel wouldn't object—and she never has; ever. "Thank you," she replied.

Raziel nodded slowly as he reached inside his exorcist uniform and pulled out a device from a pocket. He handed it to Amitiel and she took it. Amitiel played with the device in her hands, wondering what he had given her. It was slightly rounded on the corners, and it was black with a glossy texture. It was the most peculiar thing she had ever seen, she wasn't familiar on how it functions, and hopefully Raziel knew how to use this mysterious device. She continued to play around with the device in her hands until she decided to ask, "what's this?"

Raziel's mouth almost dropped to the floor but he responded, "that is a cell-phone, Amitiel."

She looked up at him with clueless brown eyes, she raised the phone up and said, "are these those things they use against their ears?" Amitiel asked curiously, then looked at it suspiciously, "... or is it a weapon?"

Raziel sighed, "both really, those are products humans use as a means of communication. I am giving you one so you can keep in touch with me. If you have any trouble, do not hesitate to call me and I will be here immediately. Unless the situation is urgent, summon me."

Amitiel had more questions to ask, but she didn't want to question his decisions. What really matters to her is that she must learn how to use this weird thing, and she could tell it was going to be as hard as learning a new language (in her case it was Japanese).

Amitiel held the phone in her hands as she bowed her head down, "thank you."

Raziel nodded in satisfaction. Amitiel turned around and looked down at the phone, observing the small screen and ran her fingers across its glossy texture. She turned her head towards Raziel when another question popped in her head.

"Raziel—"

But Raziel wasn't there, all she saw was a booklet sitting on her desk in his place. She walked over towards her desk and read the title on the booklet:_ instructions manual_.

"… Thank you again," Amitiel responded at the still air.

* * *

Yukio heard the sound of what he assumed was a book slamming on the wooden desk beside his. Yukio looked aside to find his brother removing his bag over his shoulder, as well as a sword wrapped in a red cover slinging on his shoulder. The blue-haired boy set his sword against the desk as he plopped himself onto his bed, the sheets were messy and unorganized. Yukio removed his glasses to clean them with his shirt, he sighed as he looked at his brother, who was occupied with a manga in his hands.

"Hey, dude, you've been through a lot today, heh?" The teen remarked as he flipped a page. "I mean—you're okay, right?"

"I'm fine," Yukio responded, his voice tinged with frustration.

"Come on, from what she did to you—" The boy continued.

"Leave her out of this. I am not fine with what you've done either, after what has been going on lately, and I mean _before_ you've enrolled here."

"What?" The boy asked, purposely acting confused.

"Nii-san, can you please take into consideration your current position?" Yukio stood up with arms crossed over his chest.

"So this is about her!" The boy snapped as he closed his manga and pointed a finger at his brother, who was confused on how his brother related his question with the girl.

Yukio frowned intensely at his brother, his teal eyes darkened as he spoke, "I am sincerely asking you to control yourself, remember that you are in a dangerous position here. If you spark any sort of suspicion, the Order will know. Do you even know who she is?"

"A bitch, that's who she is," the teen snapped back and fixed his manga vigorously.

"Her name is Hana Tanaka, and keep in mind that her father is an exorcist," Yukio said, hoping to knock some sense into his brother's head.

However, Yukio's intentions backfired. "So you're saying I should stay away from her. I completely agree with that," Rin frowned.

"No, I am asking you to behave yourself, if her father found about... the truth. He _will_ kill you," Yukio responded bluntly at his own brother.

The boy sighed, "I get that, the world pretty much wants me dead already..." Yukio paused for a moment, he heard the disappointment in his brother's voice. Suddenly the somber look on his brother's face was replaced with an excited smile, "I _knew_ that was coming, that bastard!" Yukio ignored him as he referred to the manga in his hands. Yukio, completely annoyed by his brother's lack of attention, marched over to his brother's bed across the room and snatched away the manga from his hands.

"Hey! What the hell, Yukio! Give that back, dammit!" The boy shouted as he tried to reach for the manga in Yukio's hand, but Yukio withdrew his hand as he spoke back. "Can you listen to me for once?! Hiroshi Tanaka is one of the most loyal subjects of the Knights, if he finds out your secret through his daughter... you'll be in an impossible fix, Nii-san, and I won't be able to help you!" Yukio paused and his brother's eyes widened, but only slightly. "All I ask is that you stay out of trouble, and that means controlling yourself," Yukio finished as he tossed the manga and his brother caught it with a pout. "_I mean it_," Yukio said with furrowed eyebrows.

"... Fine, Four-Eyes."

After their loud conversation, the room had plunged into silence again. The brothers didn't make eye contact with each other for several minutes. The blue-haired boy flipped through his manga and whistled, which provoked Yukio.

"Can you please stop?" Yukio interrupted the boy's whistling as he smacked his hands down on his desk. His brother formed a small "O" on his mouth, blinked several times, and his whistling died down.

"Jeez, Four-Eyes," the boy remarked.

Yukio sighed in relief when silence was in the room again. The exorcist tapped his pencil lightly on his paper as he searched deep into his thoughts as to which lesson he must do for the next day. Honestly, for a young man like himself, being a teacher wasn't what he expected himself to be. Yukio clearly remembered he had other future plans instead of becoming an exorcist, but that was before his life changed completely 8 years ago. His life had changed even more recently regarding his brother. The exorcist felt a beating pulse in his head as he rubbed his forehead. Suddenly, Yukio noticed a slight sound, a tapping type of sound, whatever it was—it bothered him to no end, and he knew the first person to blame.

"Can you please stop tapping your foot? I'm trying to concentrate on tomorrow's lesson," Yukio dropped his pencil on the paper as he gave his brother a tired, irritated glare.

Yukio's brother dropped the manga on himself and held his hands up in surrender, "I'm not doing anything!"

"Then what's that tapping sound?" Yukio questioned his brother. Suddenly, both boys looked at each other as they trail their attention to the door. Yukio gave his brother a confused glance as he approached the door.

"Who's here? I thought you and I were only supposed to be here," his brother frowned in suspicion. "Oh no, don't tell me that clown lied about this place not being haunted," his brother added with a gasp.

Yukio twisted the knob and opened the door, he peaked out of the room to look both ends of the hall. Unfortunately, it was starting to get dark outside, and the darkness began to invade the hallways. Yukio felt an uneasiness in his stomach as he shouted, "who's ther—"

Yukio made eye contact with none other but his new student, Hana Tanaka.

"Oh, Tanaka-san," Yukio said, confused. "What... are you doing here?"

"This is my dorm, what are you doing here?" Amitiel replied sharply. Amitiel observed another head peek out from the doorway, and the familiar blue hair indicated it was her teacher's brother.

"What's _she_ doing here?" Rin scoffed in irritation at her presence.

"You tell me. This dorm is reserved for me," she replied, and with that, Amitiel began to question why two boys were living in the same abandoned building. She began to wonder if Raziel knew about this.

"Well, there must be some mistake, the female dormitory is west of here. This is the male dormitory," Yukio formed a weak smile.

"Why are you being so nice with her?" Rin whispered beside him.

"Nii-san," Yukio shushed, and glared at his brother. "Sir Pheles assigned us this dorm, has he in your case?" Yukio looked at Amitiel.

"No, my, um, relative assigned me this dorm," Amitiel finished with a swallow. She could never call Raziel by his real name in this case, let alone call him a father. Truthfully, Raziel was never her father in the first place, if she called him father, she would be lying, and the last thing she ever does is lie.

"I'll try to understand that," Yukio tried to think of reason why that was the case. "Have you just arrived?" Yukio added.

Amitiel responded, "yes, I'm going back to start unpacking my things now." With that said, Amitiel began walking back to her dorm without saying a simple goodbye.

"Hold on, allow Nii-san to help you," Yukio suggested with a smile. The blue-haired boy's head shot up suddenly as he cried, "excuse me?! You just told me to stay—"

Amitiel shook her head in protest, "I don't need his help. I don't depend on humans for help."

"No, allow him to help. Perhaps that will help you two get along," Yukio continued to urge his brother to help. He must eliminate the hostility between the two, before other problems surface to the point it catches her father's attention. For some reason, Yukio had a gut feeling his new student isn't trying to cause trouble on purpose.

The blue-eyed teen bolted up as he glared at the girl and his brother, and reluctantly pushed himself towards the girl he despised. However, in Amitiel's case, she wondered why Yukio was acting so calm and composed, why didn't he react impulsively like his brother?

The teen stood a distance from the angel as they walked silently back to Amitiel's dorm. Amitiel felt the boy's intense glare on her as she looked ahead. Once they entered her room, the teen coughed at how dusty the air was.

"Do you keep anything clean here, or what?" The boy commented With a cough.

Amitiel kept a straight face, "I told you, I just arrived here."

The boy shrugged his shoulders as the two stood silently in the room. Of course, both enemies didn't quite know what to talk about, and the teenage boy wasn't quite along with the idea of helping the new girl out. He frowned slightly when he noticed Amitiel had her eyes on him. She observed from top to bottom, observing every part of his body, as if she was studying him. She didn't show a sign of curiosity on her face, in fact, he couldn't quite make out her facial expression—it just looked empty and dead.

Suddenly, Amitiel broke the awkward silence as she asked, "do you humans always act this hostile towards each other?"

The boy blinked multiple times, his face twisted into a creeped-out look. Something about what she said created a sinking feeling in his chest. The teen hesiated for a moment before responding with a frown, "quit... calling ourselves humans, it's friggin' weird." The boy pursed his lips as he hesitated again. He really didn't want to say it, but if his brother wanted him to resolve their conflict—he must try. Rin shoved his hands in the pockets of his sweater and continued, "just... call me Rin. Rin Okumura."

Amitiel straightened herself out as she replied, "Hana Tanaka."

"I know that," the boy named Rin almost cut her off. "What do you need help for? Perhaps help on changing your attitude?" Rin suggested, yet Amitiel wasn't offended like he anticipated.

"I apologize," was all Amitiel said. Rin furrowed his eyebrows as he stared at the girl. He crossed his arms in an act of opposition.

"Apology not accepted," Rin replied sharply.

"Then will you forgive me?" Amitiel said with a blank look in her eyes, and that indicated Rin she wasn't meaning it fully. She didn't understand why he didn't accept her apology, normally Amitiel just had to say it to Raziel and she would be forgiven.

"Do you seriously expect me to forgive you? What you did to Yukio was _unforgivable_. I won't... I will _never _let a dumbass like you treat him like that, ever again. Got it?" Rin flashed his angry eyes at Amitiel.

"Yes, but what will allow me to earn your forgiveness? I'm not trying to hurt you in any way. You must understand, what I did back there, I did it instinctively. When you know demons could possess anyone, you become much more cautious around others," Amitiel replied, completely ignoring Rin's offensive response. Rin felt as if she was excusing herself.

However, Rin couldn't help but agree with that. He had come across a situation where a demon in disguise of someone he never expected almost attacked him, and what did he do? He acted on instinct and punched the demon. He somewhat understood where she was coming from, a month ago, he didn't know demons even existed, and now from what his father told him: demons are everywhere.

However, Yukio wasn't a demon. Rin wasn't a demon either.

"How about you just stay away from Yukio and I," Rin snarled.

Rin's snarl relaxed as he saw her give him a small nod and looked at him with soft, brown eyes, "alright then."

Rin added, "good." Amitiel and Rin broke the conversation as Amitiel opened her suitcase on her bed. At first, Rin thought the girl was a typical spoiled rich kid, however, judging by her clothes and her things—she didn't seem rich at all. Her clothes seemed to be out of style, and she didn't own designer brands or expensive accessories. It shows she got into the academy merely because of her father's job, not out of fortune.

"So... Looks like you never needed my help then, huh?" Rin said as he stood still with his hands in his pockets, observing as the angel placed things in her drawers.

Amitiel stopped and didn't look at him, "you told me I should stay away from you."

Rin's mouth opened to say something, but closed back. He didn't expect her to actually obey what he said, and the fact that she did confused him, it almost drove him into suspicion for her again. Rin didn't object as he walked towards the door and exited her room, without saying anything else.

* * *

**A/N: this is my shortest chapter...so far. I'm trying to keep my chapters at least 4000 words or higher because short chapters...suck y'know? Plus I like detail, and dialogue...and it takes up a lot of words, which I like.**

**Thank you if you've read this far in this lame story even though it was only 5 chapters in total haha. It would be a bonus if you ... wait for it...review!**

**I decided I might as well add what's going to be expected in the next chapter, so the next chapter will be Rin-centric**


	6. Chapter 5: The Stupidity of Okumura Rin

**Disclaimer: Blue Exorcist (****青の祓魔師（エクソシスト****)) belongs to Kazue Kato. This is created for entertainment purposes only, no profit was made. Please support the author by purchasing her books!**

* * *

_**天使火災**__**- Angel Fire**_

_**Chapter 5: The Stupidity of Okumura Rin - **__**奥村燐～の愚かさその**_

* * *

**"...mura... Okumura," a voice sounded in his head.** Rin didn't quite catch the number of times this voice had been saying his name until he realized he was sleeping—in class.

"Sukiyaki!?" Rin shouted after his head bolted upright with wide, sapphire eyes. He looked around himself, beside him sat the young blonde named Shiemi Moriyama, who gave him a confused glance with her clear green eyes. On the other side of the teen stood the teacher, his thin eyes locked their gaze on the teen in deep contempt.

"Get ahold of yourself, Okumura. That was the second time you fell asleep in class!" The exorcist frowned in disappointment at the blue-haired teen. Rin scratched the back of his head as he replied, "sorry."

Rin frowned as he picked up his book, all it basically talked about was world religions. Since this class was basically focusing on religion, that means it involved lots of reading, so Rin was commonly seen dozing off from boredom. Reading was a nightmare to him, and he didn't quite understand most of the context, mainly because he gave up trying after looking at the first page of the book. Unless it was manga or a book containing _only _pictures—Rin didn't bother to touch it. The boy tried hard to resist himself from dropping his head on the desk and sleep again, until a new voice reached his ears. What it said woke him up.

"How the hell does he even bother coming to class if he just slacks off?"

Rin narrowed his eyes. At first he expected that blond new girl to say such a thing, however, it didn't sound like a feminine voice. Rin looked over his shoulder to find the tall teen, who was recognized by the bright yellow streak running through his dark-brown, messy hair, glaring at him as he added, "he pisses me off, that guy."

Instead of taking into consideration the teen's crude comment, Rin could only think about how much effort he had put into dyeing his hair—which Rin considered cool. The piercings around the teen's earlobes created sparkles in Rin's deep blue eyes. Compared to other boys he's met in class, Rin saw how older he looked. He seemed to look like a senior student, mainly because he had a small goatee, as well as a few facial hairs around his jawline. Unlike Rin's slimmer form, this dude was lean and muscular. The slim boy could tell there was muscle under the guy's clothes. Rin just worshipped him as the epitome of badass.

Rin urged himself to face the board as he thought,_ ha, usually I would glare back and get into a fight... but not anymore! 'Cause I'll be an exorcist!_ Rin smiled coolly as he envisioned himself in the black exorcist cassock, with sword in hand. To him, that was a miracle what he just did. Every time someone bothered Rin, he wouldn't hesitate to lay his fist against someone, which basically happened yesterday with the new girl. Most of the students, including Amitiel, all stared at him as he chuckled randomly at his daydream, this time he ignored the teacher's yelling.

"Okumura! Pay attention!" The teacher shouted in frustration.

The teacher sighed with a hand against his forehand as he continued, "moving on. Someone tell me who was the first exorcist in history? Who created exorcism?"

The teacher saw the epitome of badass raise his hand up, but the teacher's gaze trailed towards the boy with dark blue hair.

"Okumura, who was the first exorcist?" The teacher repeated. His choice frustrated the badass.

Rin's daydream was interrupted. He shuffled on his seat as he crossed his arms and mumbled under his breath, "... it's gonna be me."

"Jesus Christ, Okumura!" The teacher snapped loudly.

Rin blinked in shock, "whoa! Ya don't need to get mad, okay?"

The teacher dropped the shout and repeated more calmly, "no, Okumura, it's Jesus Christ."

"...Oh," was all Rin said as he blinked, mistaking the teacher's answer as a means of cursing.

Because of the blue-haired teen's stupidity, the boy with the yellow streak glared furiously at Rin's ridiculous behaviour.

* * *

Throughout the rest of the classes, Amitiel and the others just observed Rin making a fool of himself on a daily basis. He fell asleep again during demonology, in which a different teacher asked him for the name of the lowest level demon, which was obviously _Coal Tar._ Instead, Rin just hesitated until the teacher shouted at him the answer and pointed at a small one that was floating adjacent to the boy.

"Rin Okumura... how can he not even know _that_?" Amitiel questioned herself. To her, it was obviously the easiest question she's ever heard. After a long class, the bell rang, signaling the start of the next class, and it was Grimoire Literature—which was going to be Rin's living hell.

Everyone became silent as a remarkably tall exorcist walked in. Like some exorcists, this one wore his cassock unbuttoned, and a silver rosary was connected around the man's belt. Amitiel recognized the familiar blade in its sheath on the side of the exorcist's belt. It was Raziel.

Raziel placed a suitcase on the desk and he looked up with a straight, almost intimidating glance, "alright, students, class begins."

Rin watched as everyone around him sat silently, except for the cool guy with piercings. He stood up from his chair and asked, "Um, sir, I don't mean to be rude, but we haven't received notice of a substitute."

Raziel pulled out some papers from his suitcase and set them on the table, "that is because your teacher was the substitute." Raziel replied and didn't look back at the boy.

"Huh? She's the substitute? That doesn't even make sense, what kind of teacher would go on hiatus for the first days of school?!" Rin babbled his way into the conversation. He mainly argued because their "substitute" was the only teacher who actually allowed Rin to sleep in class. After many attempts, she mainly just gave up.

"That, Okumura Rin, would be confidential," Raziel replied sharply. From the looks and attitude from this kid, Raziel wasn't becoming quite fond of him.

Rin kept quiet and crossed his firm arms as the exorcist introduced himself formally, and when he spoke his name, Rin almost fell off his chair.

"My name is Tanaka Hiroshi, and I will be your Grimoire Literature instructor, your previous instructor had to substitute for me for confidential reasons. You must know that I have been a loyal partner with the Knights for over 30 years," Raziel said as he watched the students with his tired eyes, some whispered about his relation to Amitiel. "Yes, I am Hana's father, but let us not focus on that fact, but focus on the aspects of exorcism," Raziel straightened himself up as he clasped his hands behind his back, as he patrolled around the classroom.

Rin tried to remain calm as the exorcist spoke. "I am teaching you to prepare you for your future exorcist career. You are all here today at this very minute because you are the few taking on the most dangerous path most humans are too cowardly to take. You are one of the few that will possess the evil truth behind the reality of life. As you progress through your preparation, I will be teaching you the skills and strategies and all the knowledge you must need to face this dark path of an exorcist. My lessons also give you lifesaving strategies that will not only save yourselves, but other people's lives as well, because believe me ―it is going to become a living hell. The demons you face now are just minorities, compared to what you will be facing later on. When you enter the big leagues ―when you become a junior second class―you will be tested whether or not you have acquired my lessons and used them. If you choose not to, then step down into the Director's office and drop out of my class," Raziel paused to let the students disagree and leave the class, yet no one did.

"Alright then, you've made your decisions I presume," Raziel continued. "Now where did your substitute leave off...?" Raziel searched through a binder full of papers. The exorcist frowned at how unorganized the previous teacher was. The students watched as Raziel closed the binder and placed it in his suitcase, and threw most of the loose papers in the trash beside his desk. Some students exchanged confused glances with each other, Rin on his part, thought the teacher wasn't going to teach them anything today―except he was wrong.

Raziel decided to ask someone in the class, "Kamiki-san, where did you leave off?"

The girl with purple hair tied in long pigtails stood up and answered, "we're currently studying the medieval catholic formula "V_adre retro Satana_" or "Step Back, Satan", sir."

"Ah, has the teacher proposed that you memorize the Latin text?" Raziel raised an eyebrow.

"No, sir, just the translation," the girl responded.

"Well then, here's your new homework: memorize "_Vadre retro Satana_", in Latin please," Raziel simply said, and some of the students began to argue. Some noticed how fluent Raziel was when he spoke the Latin title.

"What? Come on, does _anyone_ in this world even understand it?" Rin protested.

"If I can speak it fluently, so can you. Grimoires are to be used by their original text. They are proven to be much more efficient, as some other versions may incorrectly and inaccurately translate the text, rendering the copy useless. By knowing the original this will boost your ability to exorcise demons more forcefully. I accept no objections," Raziel said sternly, and Rin chose to fall asleep on his own free will.

"I can live with that," the boy with the striped hair said with a smirk. Amitiel agreed with him there, since it was her first language, after all. She found it easier to understand it in Latin, and more difficult in Japanese.

Rin couldn't hold it back any longer and he dozed off into sleep. Amitiel remained silent as Raziel frowned intensely at the sleeping boy. Raziel grabbed the book off the teen's hands and smacked it right in front of the boy, which caused him to jump out of his chair.

"Do you plan on sleeping in a real battle?" Raziel's sharp green hawk eyes glared at the boy. "Please do that if you plan to kill yourself for the most dishonourable reason," Raziel added, and with that, Rin rolled his eyes as he picked up the book and tried to memorize the impossible.

* * *

Rin's heart jumped as soon as Yukio announced, "all right, time to return your quizzes." Of course, Rin didn't panic because he might've failed, but because he can clearly expect Yukio's reaction, and he enjoyed it. Anti-Demon Pharmaceuticals wasn't really Rin's strong point, after all.

"Oh, I know I did well!" Shiemi spoke with fists raised against her chest, Rin could tell she was confident.

"Oh, yeah, you're mom owns the exorcist shop, right?" Rin asked.

"Yeah, my mother always taught me a bunch of different pharmaceutical plants and their uses, plus I always named some I found in the garden out back. So this subject is my forte," Shiemi smiled brilliantly, and Rin couldn't help but return the smile.

"Shima-kun," Yukio called and the pink-haired teen stood and walked over to the exorcist and picked up his quiz.

"Kamiki-san?" Yukio called and the girl with long pigtails stood up from her seat behind Amitiel and walked over.

"Moriyama-san?" Yukio called and Shiemi bolted up and replied, "yes?" However, instead of praise, Yukio smiled sympathetically and added, "making up names for plants is all right, otherwise they would be easy to memorize for you. Unfortunately, you must learn the proper names on a test, Shiemi-san. Things like Mr. Sancho and Benzy are invalid answers, please refer to them as aloe and Penicillin."

The blonde stood agape in despair when she saw her low mark number in bold red marker. Instead of apologizing, or at least cheer his friend up, Rin just covered his mouth as he shouted, "ha ha! I thought you were good at this stuff!"

"_Okumura,_" this time Yukio said it out flatly. He passed his brother's quiz with a sign of irritation at his preposterous mark. "I think I have an ulcer..." Yukio's eyebrow twitched as he shut his eyes and tried to refrain his anger. His brother, on the other hand, just shrugged his shoulders and replied, "sorry."

Rin walked back to his seat as Hana's name was called. Amitiel lifted off the seat and walked over to the exorcist to collect her quiz. Rin watched vigilantly as she took the quiz and returned to her seat while observing her quiz. Rin couldn't quite tell on her face if she was proud or upset, her face looked neutral.

After the short, bald boy received his quiz, the last person, the boy Rin called badass, walked over to the teacher after his name was called. Rin watched eagerly to see the same guy fail just as badly as he did. A punk like him couldn't stand a chance to get better than a 2 like Rin.

The teen saw Rin's horrendous mark as he passed by and added, "I couldn't do that bad even if I _tried_." Rin frowned. "You're too busy flirting with the girls, you _disgust_ me."

_Huh? What makes you think you're so smart, huh, Rooster-head?!_ Rin commented in his head.

Ironically, Rin heard the opposite of what he expected from Yukio, "well done, Suguro-kun." The boy named Suguro flipped the page over to reveal an astounding _98_ points. Rin's mouth dropped to the floor, completely and utterly shocked coming from someone like that guy.

"Huh?! A guy like you can't get 98 points! You must've cheated or somethin'!" Rin shouted out loud, which provoked Suguro.

"What?!" Suguro yelled in anger as he scrunched his paper in his fist. "I came here to study, so that I can be an exorcist!" The loud conversation between Rin and Suguro caught the attention of all the other students. "Everyone here is trying their hardest, unlike a slacker like you! So piss off!" Suguro cried out.

"Who the hell are you to criticize me, huh, Spike?! I'm tryin' too!" Rin shouted in protest. Yukio had the urge to step in when Suguro's two friends, the pink-haired and short teens, stepped in and restrained their friend from coming any closer to Rin.

"You've _never_ taken class seriously... all y'all do is sleep during it!" Suguro tried to resist his friends' hold on him as he pointed his finger at the blue-haired teen. "Bon, we're in the middle of class..." The pink-haired teen said as the short one added, "c-calm down, Bon."

"I'm a... a hands-on person, that why! I can't learn just by sitting on a desk and reading books, y'know!" Rin shouted back as Yukio held him by the arms.

"Yes, please tell us more why he should study, Suguro-kun," Yukio smiled, teasing his brother. Rin broke free from Yukio's grip and shouted, "who's side are you on?!"

"Who's do you think?" Yukio's smile wiped away with an aggravating frown.

Amitiel didn't understand why humans acted this way, at all. She watched as the boys argued with each other over the most useless topics. Is this how they resolve their problems? No wonder humans turned towards war on a bigger scale conflict.

* * *

Yukio couldn't believe how hot it had become outside. He could barely open his eyes without the strong, warm rays of the sun from blinding him. He sat on the stone border of a fountain releasing shoots of water out of the statues on top. The cool sensation of the water and the smell of humidity calmed him, as well as the soothing sound of trickling water. Yukio reached over his suitcase, opened it, and then pulled out some papers he received from the authorities. It was just some typical cases of demonic activities occurring throughout the city. Yukio felt a warm breeze hit his body and he held onto the papers from blowing away. He turned to face the suitcase again when he saw Amitiel walking calmly towards him. Yukio straightened himself up as the blond sat a meter away from him. She didn't speak for a moment, and Yukio just focused back on the papers, until he was about to ask something when Amitiel blurted out, "I'm sorry for my reckless behaviour that day."

Yukio disclosed what he was going to say. "I also apologize for damaging school property, I paid for that." Amitiel added. She only looked at him with a bland look, expecting a response. Honestly, Yukio didn't expect at all an apology from someone like her. He could just tell in her dark eyes she didn't care what she does. However, this unanticipated moment seemed to relieve him.

Yukio had a look of calmness upon his face, "that's a step. I'm glad you apologized." Yukio furrowed his dark eyebrows slightly in a mild frown. "—but that was very unnecessary for you to do that."

Amitiel brought her hands together on her laps as she looked down at the grass. "Yes, and with that — will you forgive my mistakes?" Amitiel asked, hopefully Yukio would be more mature about it than Rin.

"Of course I will, in fact—" Yukio reached over to his suitcase and pulled out her silver blade, "... please use it against demons, not each other." Amitiel immediately grabbed it and shoved it back into its sheath. As soon as the blade was placed where it belonged, Amitiel urged herself to continue on with her task. Since a few days ago, she couldn't search True Cross Academy without a weapon for protection. More importantly, she thought about how easily forgiving Yukio was compared to his obnoxious brother.

"Thank you, Okumura-sensei," Amitiel replied with a small bow. "Your elder brother seems to despise me."

"Yes, he can be tricky to forgive. Just give him time, he'll forget at some point. Why don't you go apologize to him?" Yukio suggested and he gave the angel a quick smile.

"I tried, but it didn't end well," Amitiel responded, which reminded her about what Rin said to her. Those words he said to her repeated in her head. She really shouldn't be talking to his brother. Indeed, Amitiel agreed Rin was difficult, especially if he holds a grudge against her. But one thing she didn't understand, was why he was so defensive for Yukio? Perhaps it was because he was his family?

Yukio gave an understanding nod.

"I've... Never met someone as hot-headed as him," Amitiel added. Compared to Rin and Suguro, her entire family in Heaven was very calm and composed, not a single angel would express any sign of anger, just like her. She just couldn't get mad at anyone, she thought that was completely useless and that it could only make situations worse. She didn't know what to be angry at.

"It's a part of his personality, it can't be changed, though believe me — I've tried," Yukio said with a chuckle. Amitiel just sat there, relaxed as she looked into Yukio's turquoise eyes, while Yukio found himself looking into her dark-brown eyes. Something about her eyes bothered him, they always seemed tired, but also empty and dull. He wondered what was going on through her head, if there was anything.

Amitiel slowly looked away, observing the people passing by, as she said, "I find it quite odd. You're the younger brother, right? But I thought _you_ were the older brother."

Yukio let out another smile, "Nii-san and I are actually fraternal twins. I guess behaviour-wise, I would be considered the mature, older brother. We seem to get this comment a lot." He chuckled. "But it's true, I am the younger brother, I studied exorcism since I was seven and attained my exorcist license at thirteen, so I have higher social status then my older twin brother."

Amitiel crossed her legs as she replied, "that's quite amazing. I heard from the others that you are the youngest exorcist to ever achieve the exorcist title."

"Yes, but it was a long, grueling journey, though," Yukio said with a somber tone. Amitiel saw him bow his head down, without understanding the many tribulations the young exorcist must have gone through. Memories of him throughout his entire training replayed in his mind, Yukio could only think about _one person_ in particular who was a great inspiration to him. Without this person, Yukio wouldn't be what he is today. And sometimes, Yukio wished he didn't have to go through life becoming an exorcist—yet he had a very important reason to do so; he had no choice.

Since Amitiel didn't know what to say next, she decided to leave Yukio, before Rin finds them together. "I hope your older brother will follow your example, if you want, I'll go apologize to him right now," Amitiel said.

Amitiel was too late, near the outside hallway of the academy, Rin walked out with Shiemi and the first thing he saw was a broken truce. The familiar figure with wavy blond hair caused Rin's eyes to burn angry. He grit his teeth as he cursed under his breath, "... son of a bitch."

Rin charged towards Amitiel, who was talking to Yukio. The mere sight of her even near Yukio enraged him to no end, after what he specifically told her not to do.

"Yukio!" Rin shouted, which caught the attention of the angel and exorcist.

"Nii-san," Yukio tried to calm his enraged brother.

"You—get away from her," Rin said and glared at Amitiel, who stood there with the same calm look. Shiemi just fell silent.

"Nii-san, relax, we were just talking," Yukio said reassuringly but Rin's anger didn't cool down.

"I'm afraid I must go, or else your brother will kill me," Amitiel said as she turned to leave the brothers. At first, Yukio thought she wasn't serious, but her tone of voice showed she wasn't kidding about it at all.

Rin watched cautiously as Amitiel walked away without turning back, which made him sigh in relief when she was gone. Rin jumped onto the fountain and sat on it. Shiemi walked over to sit beside Yukio.

"Ugh, she reminds me of that guy. What's with him? Is he _smart_ or somethin'?" Rin spoke as he observed the campus around him. Both Hana and Suguro pissed him off, indeed.

"In fact, yes he is. His name is Ryuji Suguro, and like myself, he's on a scholarship. I've heard he's the son of the heir of a venerated and ancient temple in Kyoto," Yukio said and Rin assumed he was some sort of rich kid. In a prestigious academy like this one, only the richest families could afford to enroll their children here, and most of the students were spoiled brats. Rin and Yukio were lucky. They didn't have a rich lifestyle, they merely got in for special reasons; family reasons.

"He's also a very intelligent student and an exceptional athlete. You should look up to him, Nii-san, perhaps ask for help," Yukio suggested to his brother, who only threw away the possibility. He only swung his feet back and forth as he said, "well, I don't have the same perseverance like him, so..."

"Well anyways. How about you, Shiemi? Are things going smoothly in school?" Yukio asked the shy blonde with a warm smile. Shiemi's cheeks flushed to a bright red as she responded sheepishly, "n-not yet, Yuki."

Yukio maintained his smile, "well, judging from what I know about you in the past, I see a positive change in you, so keep up the great work!"

Shiemi tried to hide her bashfulness as she replied with a bright smile, "okay, thanks Yuki!"

The two watched as the young exorcist stood up from the fountain, grabbed his suitcase as he said, "well, I have another class to attend, so I must go. Don't be late for Phys. Ed!"

And with that, the young teacher left Rin and Shiemi. Suddenly Rin's cheeks flushed a bright red when he realized something.

_... Crap, we're alone together_. Rin thought as he peeked over to Shiemi's back. Her soft, blond strands of hair fell delicately on her shoulders, covering her face from Rin. He stared at her, trying to think of something to talk about to break up the awkward silence. However, Rin couldn't think of anything. He opened his mouth to speak but it closed back on him.

"Rin..." Shiemi's voice trailed away softly. Rin could tell by her tone she wasn't as happy as before. "... I don't really fit in well, do I?"

Rin swallowed and blinked as he looked up at the sky, trying to avoid making awkward eye contact with her bright green eyes.

"What—Is it because you're not trying to become an exorcist?" Rin questioned. Shiemi turned herself around. Rin stared at the bright, colourful patterns on her kimono.

"I'm not so sure..." Shiemi responded with a small bow to her head. Her blond bangs covered most of her somber green eyes. Rin thought about what to say next.

"Well, there are many different kinds of people here, so you're not the only one that feels out of place. Besides, after your exorcism, why not become one?" Rin said, remembering the time he first met Shiemi. It was that time ago when Rin and Yukio stopped by the exorcists' shop, also known as _Futsumaya._ There was where all the herbs and remedies were found, grown and handpicked in the large, colourful garden out back, and supplied for the exorcists. Rin had seen it, the garden, and that was where he met Shiemi. Even though Yukio forbade him to go anywhere around the shop, Rin was just that curious to see what the garden looked like. However, it wasn't exactly the friendliest approach he could have done upon his entrance. Rin simply knocked down a gate (by accident) with his finger, and before he realized it, the girl named Shiemi screamed with a look of horror on her face.

"D... Demon!" She cried. "T-the gate—it only reacts to demons!"

_Huh?_ Rin thought as his eyes trailed up the long black gate standing before him, and then at the iron black gate on the ground. _What did I do? It just _broke_._

Shiemi's eyes were still fear-stricken as she began to crawl away from him. "Please, don't hurt me!" She cried.

Rin hesitated if he should take another step into the gate, doubting if there wasn't some sort of invisible force field that might shock him into unconsciousness. However, Rin suddenly grit his teeth hard as he barged through the gate as he shouted indignantly, "I ain't a friggin' demon!" Rin mumbled something under his breath that Shiemi couldn't make out. "... So don't judge me like that!" He blurted out loudly. What Rin basically said startled the poor blond even more. Shiemi squirmed away from him, dragging herself through the large green patch of grass and flowers with a horrified look on her soft face.

"Don't come near me! Just stay away!" Shiemi pleaded desperately as she crawled away. However, the way she moved caused Rin to shut up. She seemed to be struggling, and it wasn't due to the fact she wore a kimono. Shiemi fell face-down into the grass as she screamed, and Rin approached her slowly. Apologetically, Rin said, "a-are you all right?" Rin stared at her feet. "Is something... wrong with your legs?" The boy asked, Rin saw what looked like thick vine-like veins crawling up throughout her legs. Shiemi remained silent in fear when she looked back and looked into his azure blue eyes.

Suddenly, she regretted calling him a demon, he didn't even look like one. Rin, on his part, began to feel like a monster for scaring her. To help make up for what he did, he decided to help Shiemi with her gardening, which was something he also regretted.

_Ew! It stinks so much my eyes are burning!_ Rin's face twisted into a disgusted look. He tried very hard not to inhale any of that possibly toxic stuff Shiemi was pouring in in a deep hole he dug out. His eyes were coated with tears as he tried to resist the smell, and it shocked him that Shiemi was immune to it.

"Ugh, what the hell is that?" Rin asked in disgust at the brown-orange liquid in the hole.

"It's cow manure mixed with water. It's used as an organic fertilizer," Shiemi replied. When she finished, Shiemi looked up to him with a calm glance, "thank you so much for helping me! With my legs in this state, this would take me hours to do this."

Instead of accepting her praise, Rin frowned. "Wait a second! First you call me a demon and then you make me do your work!" He shouted, taking Shiemi aback.

"I-I'm sorry, I never thought you would be a nice person," Shiemi smiled sympathetically, as she raised her hand, which contained some of the toxic filth, "shall we make up?"

Rin didn't really return the smile and handshake, mostly because he never expected someone to see him that way. Usually he was always labelled as rebellious and dangerous, so many people didn't really give him compliments and kept their distance from him. Rin decided to keep his distance from people. This was his first compliment he received from a stranger, and he didn't know how to react―mostly because he was convinced entirely by those people, who would always call him a _demon_.

Rin's cheeks heated up as he hesitated again, "well, I don't usually do this but—fine." Rin's hand interlocked with Shiemi's, which felt baby smooth and warm under his palm. Suddenly, Rin stared down at his hand as he realized some on the manure got all over his hand. Shiemi laughed as Rin's face showed a look of horror and disgust at the stuff on his hand.

Since then, Shiemi wasn't so scared of him anymore, and it turns out Yukio and Shiemi had a history together. They were childhood friends, and Rin had never even noticed that. Rin thought he knew everything about Yukio, but he was wrong. Rin began to think his brother's life wasn't very well known to Rin, after all, in fact, he didn't even know Yukio was an exorcist until he enrolled at the academy. Rin never suspected of Yukio's double life as an honours student and an exorcist, and the people he met in the past ―including Shiemi. This only made Rin wonder if Yukio was hiding more than what he already knows.

Then it turns out Yukio came to _Futsuyama_ not just to stock up on supplies, but also to diagnose what was wrong with Shiemi's legs. There was definitely something up with her legs, Rin was positive at that. She couldn't even walk on her feet—she was just crippled. But was this a normal condition? Or was a demon really behind this? Rin remembered that moment when Yukio, of all other possibilities, declared a demon was responsible for the paralysis in her legs. As Yukio got closer and closer to the truth of the demon's origin, the demon decided to strike back. Rin saw the demon within Shiemi's legs swell up into dark green veins, and formed beautiful dark purple petals around Shiemi's head. The demon was one of the plants in the garden. Rin stared in anger at the two devilish eyes on two of the petals. Now Yukio said something to Rin he thought he would _never_ say.

"Nii-san, will you lend me a hand?" Yukio asked and was suddenly startled when Rin made a face indicating he had been waiting for this moment to happen. His eyes were big and wide and his smile spread across his whole face. Moreover, Rin responded, "heh heh, my dear little bro, of course I'll help ya!" Rin sneered as he pulled his sword out of the red cover over his shoulder. Finally, he can slash this thing taking over Shiemi; and he did. Except Yukio had to shoot her with vitamin bullets in order to free the demon's possessive grip on her.

Rin realized he made an acquaintance. Shiemi joined in the cram school and since then she had been in his class, except she wasn't so sure if she was willing to become an exorcist.

Rin stared down at Shiemi on the fountain, as she thought for an answer, except she changed the topic of the conversation, "Rin..." She said softly and meekly, "d-do you have any friends?"

"Huh?" Rin said. Suddenly Shiemi stood up and grabbed Rin's hand, which shocked him to the point his face was hot and red like a tomato. His heart beat quickened as he stared at Shiemi with wide, blue eyes.

"Rin, c-can we uh... You and I—" Shiemi stumbled on her words as Rin stared at her with bright red cheeks.

"Well well well, flirtin' again, I see," a familiar, deep voice sounded around Rin and Shiemi.

Rin was so angry at that comment that he spun around immediately to face the jackass who said that. Of course, as expected, it was the smart, rebellious-looking nerd, Ryuji Suguro and his crew. All of them wore purple track suits.

"_The hell we are, dammit_!" Rin screamed in anger.

"Heh heh, is she your girlfriend or somethin'? You sure are cocky for bringing your chick to an elite school, y'know," Ryuji jeered at Rin with a smirk. Rin, on his part, protested against that kid, "she's not my girlfriend, dammit! Quit assuming things so quickly, there's nothing between us!" Rin cheeks flushed slightly, and he tried so hard to conserve that.

"Oh, so she's just a friend, huh?" Ryuji raised an eyebrow.

Rin grit his teeth and said in a low tone, "she's not... a friend!"

Shiemi's innocent green eyes widened, then she felt herself sink down into gloom. After all that happened, why didn't he see her as a friend? Rin saved her, and she sees him as a friend, but why didn't he return it? Shiemi fell silent as Rin and Ryuji's dispute continued.

Ryuji formed a devilish smirk, "ah, I see." Instead, Rin felt even more offended, mainly by his presence, and decided to strike back.

"You're one to talk about, ya always hang out with those friggin' flunkies! Talk about _lame_!" Rin shouted, which provoked Ryuji.

"Huh?!" Ryuji shouted, expecting his friends to fight back. The pink-haired teen, whose name was apparently Renzo Shima, only covered his mouth and suppressed a laugh from coming out of it.

"What the hell's so funny?!" Ryuji barked at him.

"It's because it's true!" Shima laughed out loud and Ryuji's anger soared, "you _agree_ with him?!"

"Man, I can't friggin' stand you!" Rin said, and their conversation got louder and louder.

"They're... similar right? Shima said nervously.

"Yah, opposites attract, likes repel..." The short boy said nervously.

The trio of bystanders watched, hoping no one will get hurt from the fight going on between Rin and Suguro. Ryuji's friends and Shiemi watched silently as Rin and Ryuji were too busy killing each other.

* * *

**A/N: I guess its a little repetitive that I'm retelling the manga, but just in words! I tried to add my own personal touch such as extra scenes but still...reviews would help if I'm on the right track. Ummm, that's all for now, but the next chapter will focus more on Rin and Ryuji, plus Amitiel's thoughts on them and more.**


	7. Chapter 6: Ambitions—野心

**Disclaimer: Blue Exorcist (****青の祓魔師（エクソシスト****)) belongs to Kazue Kato. This is created for entertainment purposes only, no profit was made. Please support the author by purchasing her books!**

* * *

_**天使火災—**__**Angel Fire**_

_**Chapter 6: Ambitions—**__**野心**_

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**Amitiel had to say this must be the worst class she had ever attended. **It was called physical education, but in terms for the cram school students, demons were used as a means of training for the students. The demons were held by thick, silver chains, and these demons looked like massive emerald green toads, excluding the strange magenta marks around their slimy bodies, their long reptile tails, and their slit, demonic eyes bulging out from the sides of their faces. They were several times larger than Amitiel and the students, but that didn't scare Amitiel. She had seen demons up close that were more menacing than these low-level monsters, never mind she almost got killed by one. These chains holding the demons trailed back to the center of the class, where 4 cages with more of the demons were locked up, which surrounded an area serving as the control center of the cages. The whole system was suspended by a bridge connecting it to the large exit. There were large, black metallic levers installed in a row on the control center, and within this centre stood their physical education instructor, Kaoru Tsubaki.

Apparently many instructors here came from many parts of the world, and this one was a French immigrant. He wore a simple bow on the collar of his white exorcist shirt. He had thick black eyebrows that almost curved down to make him look angry, as well as combed black hair and thick, black side burns. His eyebrows and side burns seemed to have never been shaved. He had a double chin and an exotic black French moustache, surrounded by black stubble around the lower parts of his face and around his neck and double chin. There was a thick, noticeable French accent in his voice.

"Alright students, welcome back to physical education, today we will take a step forward and get you kids conditioned to demons' movements. By knowing the general speed of demons, this will help you enhance your reaction time so that you may avoid a demon's attacks and prevent yourselves from getting injured. I warn you, though, demons are faster than you may think, but as long as you have proper clothing and footwear, you should be fine!" The teacher announced. The students all wore the same clothing. Amitiel wore a simple yellow tank top and baggy purple sweat pants, just like the other students, except some also wore the matching purple zip-up sweater.

Tsubaki pressed a button on the control panel in front of him, an alarming beeping sound rang and one of the cages of the demons slid open. The demon crawled out and sat onto the pavement, patiently awaiting its victims.

The teacher scanned through a clipboard in his hand as he shouted, "okay, Suguro-kun and Okumura-kun, you will go first as a demonstration for this lesson." Immediately, the two boys stalked to the end of the border surrounding the pentagonal hole to the demon and they both slid down the concrete. On some occasions, they gave each other fiery glares, and one pushed the other out of their way, and the other returned the assault.

Tsubaki blew a whistle and the boys immediately charged forward, with the demon hopping behind them, smacking down on the ground and shaking it slightly. What used to be a relaxing jog turned into a hardcore workout for their lives. As soon as Rin cut off Suguro, all hell broke loose.

Amitiel could only sit back and watch as Rin and Suguro chased each other around in laps while running away from a demon. Sweat flew and screams travelled around the large, pentagonal dome.

Rin and Suguro screamed with all their might, pushing themselves and their bodies to their absolute limit. They did everything in their power to prove each other wrong in the race for first place—even though it was never a race to start with. It seems the boys forgot the real purpose of running.

"Get back here, ya punk!" Suguro cried out as he sprinted towards the blue-haired teen, who was meters ahead of him.

"Haha! Slowpoke! Ya think you could beat me with your brain in a real fight?!" Rin insulted the raging guy behind him. With his yellow hair, he looked on fire

_Ugh! This dude's seriously fast!_ Suguro thought as he struggled to catch up. Rin's speed was unlike what he had ever seen from other teenagers he competed against.

Up at the top, the rest of the students looked down at the two boys in disdain.

"What a bunch of assholes..." The pig-tailed girl scoffed at the boys. Her companion, Paku, sat beside her, legs pulled up in front of her chest, and she merely remained silent.

Suguro grit his teeth so hard as he pulled himself together and cut through the intended path, charging straight at Rin, who was too busy running away from Suguro.

"...whatever's in a fight... all that matters is who wins!" Bon shouted as he jumped high and laid a blow with his foot to Rin's back, sending him soaring into the air and skidding down the concrete head first. Rin screamed. After Rin's pained scream, Suguro spat on the ground.

Except, now Suguro had completely forgotten about what was coming at them. He had thrown himself into the demon's claws. Suguro looked back and screamed as he tried to run out of the demon's way, however, he had no energy left. The teacher immediately took action and pulled back on the lever in anger, "ENOUGH!" The chains on the demon recoiled to the cages and the demon screeched and was thrown back, dragging down the concrete just as Rin had done.

"What were you guys _doing?_! You trying to get yourselves killed?!" The teacher roared from the control center, his booming voice travelled around the arena.

"Yah, what the hell _were_ you doing?" Rin repeated the teacher's response to Suguro.

"I couldn't let you friggin' beat me," Suguro replied as he breathed rapidly, his hands were on his knees, and sweat broke out over his forehead. Both boys' foreheads were plastered with sweat and some of it built up underneath the boys' armpits, seeping through their clothes and created dark patches. The other students really saw how much effort they had put into this exercise.

"Oh! Ya want another challenge, eh?! Bring it!" Rin shouted from behind Suguro and the two threw themselves at each other.

"This isn't some sort of competition!" The teacher charged towards them after he climbed down from the control center. Suddenly he realized the boys hadn't listened to him at all. "HEY! Pay attention!"

Suguro's friends, the bald boy and Shima, rushed down to separate Suguro from Rin while the teacher restrained Rin from the latter. Rin gave Suguro the bird, and his anger soared.

"What is up with you two?!" The teacher yelled as Rin tried to claw his way towards Suguro, while the teacher restrained him from doing so.

"Sorry! He loses it too easily sometimes!" Shima said with a sympathetic smile.

Back at the top, the students didn't do anything but witness the typical fight going on down there.

"Absolutely ridiculous," Amitiel commented. She never expected a 15 year old boy to act with this much immaturity. What was about Suguro that bothered Rin to this degree? First it was her, and now he turns towards another student, was it natural for someone to be this violent? She didn't think so, especially since Rin just couldn't seem to lay off someone without picking a fight, despite the teacher's warnings. There must be some valid reason for his behaviour.

After the teacher broke the argument, Tsubaki gestured towards Suguro to follow him. "Suguro-kun, I would like to have a word with you," the teacher cleared his throat and led Suguro away from Rin.

"Yes, sir," Suguro obediently replied and followed the teacher. Rin stuck his tongue out at Suguro behind his back and commented, "just what the hell is up with this guy?" Rin's face twisted into contempt.

One of Suguro's friends, Shima, responded, "ah, nothing, really. Bon's so worked up about everything he can be quite impulsive." He chuckled. "I think it's because Bon came here with great ambitions, y'know?"

"Ambitions?" Rin replied, that word piqued his interest.

Suguro glanced back at the boy, who was busy talking to _his_ friends. He really wanted to strangle him. Instead of laying a quick comment on Rin, Suguro forced his attention on the teacher when he cleared his throat and spoke, "look, Suguro-kun, you're known to be an honourable student. You're athletic and academic skills prove so, so the teachers expect great achievements from you, including me. However, I advise you that you do not get into such reckless behaviour." The teacher coughed, and Suguro frowned indignantly.

"Huh? I don't mean to disrespect you, but why are you only telling me? I mean, Okumura's just as guilty as me, am I right?" Suguro asked with a calm composure.

"Oh? I've been informed he's a special case, and that the Director himself got him into the Academy. I suggest you do not get yourself involved with that boy," the teacher said then cleared his throat again.

Suguro grit his teeth without showing them, he looked behind him to get one last glance at the mysterious boy named Rin Okumura. _So he's special, huh?_ He thought, truthfully, it pissed him off that a low-level kid like him got 'special treatment'. But what really bothered him was _why_.

Rin listened as Shima said something that soon shocked him, "Bon enrolled into the cram school solely to defeat Satan."

Rin's lungs stopped breathing and he felt his heart beat against his chest. The shock of hearing this left Rin speechless. Chills suddenly ran down Rin's spine, crawling through his skin as the very familiar name sounded in his head.

"What...?" Rin croaked, almost unable to breathe again. _That's..._ Rin paused. _That's just like..._ Rin couldn't even finish what he was thinking.

"Yah, quite funny isn't it?" The pink-haired boy added with a chuckle. However, Rin frowned as he replied, "I didn't really find it funny..."

"Oh..." Shima's voice trailed away. The short boy jumped in, "I wouldn't be laughing too, Shima-san." The short boy seemed frail and nervous to Rin, his eyebrows were always raised up as if he was scared, and his voice seemed shaky and soft. Moreover, Rin couldn't believe how _short_ he was, like a gnome. He had no hair on his head whatsoever, his clothes seemed a bit oversized, and most of the shirt was tucked under the boy's pants, strapped by a brown belt. His tiny black eyes were surrounded by large, round, saturated red glasses.

"Bon's trying to rejuvenate our temple back in Kyoto, which was nearly destroyed because of the _Blue Night_," the insecure boy said quietly.

"_Hacintho noctis_?" Amitiel whispered softly under her breath. She knew that name very well, although Raziel always referred to it in Latin. Apparently that was how the son of Satan came into existence.

"Huh? _Blue Night_?" Rin raised an eyebrow. "What's that?"

The two other boys were more shocked to hear that then Rin's thoughts on Satan. "What?! You've never heard of it? So you're one of those guys huh..."

Rin awaited for an explanation, and the short boy answered that for him, "the _Blue Night_ was a catastrophic event that happened 16 years ago, when the most powerful clergymen were slaughtered by Satan..." The boy shuddered. Rin regretted asking that question.

Rin let out a quiet gasp, and swallowed a lump that had formed in his throat. He listened attentively for what the boy was about to say next.

"According to our current head priest," the boy swallowed nervously, "he saw the priests suddenly scream, bleeding all over from their eyes and mouths, and suddenly spat out blue flame." The boy shivered and stopped.

"Blue flames are the trademark of Satan," Shima continued the boy's response. "One by one they were burned by those flames. At that time, our head priest was still in training, and he couldn't do anything but hide in a dark corner and prayed until dawn. Unfortunately it didn't really save the priests."

_Of course they didn't_, Rin thought. Whatever people said about prayers being heard, he thought that was a complete lie. He had prayed multiple times with his family, especially on Sundays and before supper, when he was asked to say '_Grace_' and pray for something 'God' could do to make the world a better place.

_None of his prayers came true._

Despite that fact, Rin still had faith in God even though he felt his answers weren't being answered. At least he was thankful for a comforting family and a ridiculously smart younger brother. Even though he never met his mother, Rin thought his father was the only parent he ever needed, that is the only prayer that was truly answered: a loving father like him.

Just when Rin was about to put all his trust into God, it was destroyed completely since his father's death some time ago before he enrolled into True Cross Academy. Nevertheless, his death is the reason why Rin had to come here. Rin poured all his faith to save his father, but nothing had happened that could have saved his father. Not even the angels had answered his call. God had taken the most precious person to Rin, and he will never forgive 'God' for that, he even stopped believing in him.

The short boy continued with his story, "...fortunately, our head priest—who's now Bon's father, took over the temple... But because of the _Blue Night_ that had occurred there, the many deaths of the priests in one night scared away most pilgrims and patrons. Since then, the temple fell into ruins, and the public began calling it the _'Cursed Temple'_."

"Konekomaru and I are apprentice monks from that temple, and we followed Bon here so that we can all learn exorcism, but Bon also wants to help restore his temple to its former glory," Shima said with a sympathetic smile. "Bon's been through a lot, so it would be nice if you could cut him some slack, okay?"

"So... the boy from the Cursed Temple, huh?" Rin whispered as he looked back at Suguro.

Rin's hateful thoughts about Suguro suddenly slipped from his mind. In truth, he began to empathize with Suguro's situation. He had lost many people that were dear to him, just like what happened with Rin with his father. However, there was a strong connection between both cases.

Both Rin's father and the monks were murdered by those blue flames.

* * *

"Alright, Kamiki, Moriyama, Tanaka, Paku, you're all up!" The teacher announced each of the girls' names. Amitiel watched as the others stood up. The boys climbed up the ladder back to the other students and the teacher returned to the control centre.

"I don't agree with this," Amitiel said, and her senses told her she couldn't trust those chains imprisoning the demons.

"Well too bad, let's go," the girl with the surname Kamiki interrupted Amitiel. She walked over to the end of the perimeter surrounding the pentagonal hole containing the demons, and slid down into the danger zone. Amitiel followed as well and the four stood still as the demon stared at them.

Everyone awaited the teacher's instruction when he added something, "Tanaka-san, you cannot use your weapon in class." The other girls looked over at Amitiel, with blade in hand. The purple-haired girl gave her a scornful glance.

The angel looked at the demon, then at the students. She then shook her head and protested, "it's a demon. What if it attacks me?"

"See these levers?" The teacher said as he gestured his hand to the black levers in front him. Amitiel listened. "They control the chains on the demons, if there's any sign of danger, these levers will take care of them, as you may have seen with those two kids," the teacher said and shot both boys a glance of disdain. Amitiel fell silent and reluctantly sheathed her blade. If this is what the teacher said, it must be followed. That was what Raziel said, she will prioritize the teacher's orders as one of Raziel's.

_If you are wrong, then I have no choice but to kill it_, Amitiel spoke in her head.

"I understand," Amitiel responded, and Tsubaki continued on with the lesson. He wrapped his long fingers around the black handle and laid his thumb on a button.

The students prepared to run, Shiemi, on her hand, didn't seem fit to be running. Unlike other students, Shiemi wore a dress, a hakama, they called it. For some reason, this girl had the privilege to wear kimonos and other clothes besides the school uniform. Perhaps she's also related to a special exorcist?

"Okay, I will release it, ready..." Tsubaki put his fingers in his mouth and let out an acute whistle. The demon moved itself forward, and the students jumped in fear and began running as the demon hopped from behind them. Amitiel and the purple-haired girl, Kamiki, were leading the way. Paku was third while Shiemi was struggling, only reaching last place. The demon hopped behind, and the students ran in circles around the cages. The wind whipped through Amitiel's face and hair, and she missed that feeling, the wind, it was where she normally belonged that there was wind.

The purple-haired girl huffed for air, struggling to catch up with Amitiel, who didn't show a sign of slowing down, as if her energy supply was endless. Moreover, Kamiki noticed how muscular Amitiel looked like compared to her own skinny body. Paku trailed from behind, almost reaching her limit. On Shiemi's part, she was still struggling to keep up without the dress from sneaking under her shoes and trip her. She held onto the dress in front of her and charged with all her might. Amitiel noticed she got slower and slower, to the point the demon was catching up to her —

Shiemi suddenly screamed when she tripped, hitting the hard pavement while the demon lunged at her. Amitiel immediately skidded to a halt and she sprinted to the fallen girl, while Rin shouted Shiemi's name and was about to jump into the area when a thought stopped him.

_Wait... why would I help someone like her?_ Rin paused as Amitiel was sprinting towards Shiemi, who covered her ears and curled up into a ball on the ground. The fact that Hana may risk her own safety didn't strike Rin's head. After what she did to Yukio, Rin questioned himself whether or not she really deserved his help. He was only thinking of saving Shiemi and no one else.

The demon was about to jump onto Shiemi on the ground when Amitiel ran between the two. The demon stopped suddenly and jerked back from a pull on the chain. The other two girls stopped and saw Amitiel between the demon and Shiemi, with the blade raised dangerously at the demon.

"Stay back, you demon!" Amitiel shouted and flashed her blade. The demon backed up in cowardice at the angel. The teacher and other students were slightly alarmed at how a girl like Hana could scare a demon. The purple-haired girl stopped and stared in astonishment as the demon remained immobile. It seemed as if the demon was not paying attention to her blade, but at her face. Kamiki wondered if something on Hana's face alarmed the demon.

Amitiel lowered the blade, and saw Tsubaki had pulled the lever back. The chains were held back tightly, and the demon couldn't move even a centimetre without the chain around its neck from choking it. Amitiel looked back to find Shiemi sighing in relief, her panting was quick and her face was plastered with sweat. The purple-haired girl rapidly discarded the thought Amitiel wasn't human when she saw her face looked normal, like every day.

Amitiel's eyes met Shiemi's shocked green eyes as the young girl whispered shakily, "I-I'm okay, T-Tanaka-san..."

Amitiel's response was a quick sheath of her blade back into its spot on her thigh. The angel nodded at the blushing blonde and began walking towards the ladder. Shiemi looked down at the ground with a large sigh, then slowly stood herself up.

"Moriyama-san!" The instructor's voice alarmed her. "Those clothes are not appropriate for physical education or even this generation! Where's your Phys. Ed clothing?" The teacher demanded.

"T-these are the only clothes I have, Tsubaki-sensei!" Shiemi turned back to glance at the teacher with her innocent eyes.

"This is why I told you students to wear appropriate clothing! What would you do if this happened to you again and no chains were strapped to the demon?" Tsubaki tested the young blonde, who only looked down with red cheeks and proceeded towards the ladder, smoothing her dress from dust and particles.

Shiemi was about to climb up the metal bars until she felt a tap on her shoulder. "Huh?" She said and found Kamiki politely ask, "mind if I go up first?"

The young blonde didn't have enough time to respond when the girl walked past her and climbed up the ladder. "Wow, you were quite fast, Izumo-chan!" Paku remarked as Izumo sat down beside her and raised her chin up in superiority.

"Ha, it's not like I was that tired or anything," she said.

"You're lying, I saw you panting down there," Amitiel replied suddenly, arms crossed firmly. Izumo looked over her shoulder, as she shot the angel a somewhat annoyed glance, "why should that matter to you?"

"Because you lied," Amitiel simply put. Izumo let out a snort as she ignored Amitiel and added, "this is none of your business, besides, who cares if someone lied?"

"I do," Amitiel didn't stop. "I suggest you be honest with yourself, because too many little lies can bundle up into a large one. Before you know it, not many people will trust you." Amitiel shot the girl a suspicious eye.

Izumo let out a sideways smirk, amazed by the angel's mini lecture. Why should she know more about her? All Izumo could think was how nosy she can be. A little lie like that certainly didn't cause any harm. Izumo ignored her as she whispered under her breath, "what a weirdo..."

Suddenly a familiar ringing reached the students ears. Amitiel spun her head around to find out where this strange noise was coming from, since its noise bothered her a lot.

"Who's cell-phone is that? In the middle of class, really?" Ryuji spat in indignation at whoever was disrespecting the class. Suddenly it was revealed who the culprit was when they took it out of their pocket. Ryuji fell back in utter shock when the person he least expected answered the call.

"_Salut, ma belle_?" Tsubaki replied. There was a pause. "Huh? Right now?!... hmm, you are a handful indeed, honey." There was another pause. "Alright, I'll be there right away." And with that said, he hung up.

The teacher returned his attention to the students as he raised his voice, "alright class! The rest of the period will be a study hall!"

What the instructor just said shocked all of the students.

"Now listen carefully! The _Reaper_ is generally a docile demon, however, it has the annoying habit to read the emotions of anyone who dares to look at it and then attack. All I ask is that you all stay away from the Reaper's chains until I get back, _comprenez-vous_?"

"What?!" Ryuji shouted. "Is that even legal?!"

"Alright, I have to go!" The teacher suddenly ran out of the classroom in an absolute hurry, as if it was an emergency, "_Je viens, mon petit minou mignon_!" He cried out as his shout echoed in the room before it faded away.

The students all fell silent, dejected and confused.

"What the hell?" Ryuji's rigid voice sounded, "and he calls himself an instructor?!" Ryuji crossed his broad arms with a sense of indignation, he formed a sharp frown with his thick black eyebrows. "I expected True Cross Academy to be a holy place of divine learning with well-committed instructors..." He noted under his breath.

"And the students suck ass, too!" He suddenly raised his voice, implicating his attention to the blue-haired young boy.

Rin wrinkled his nose. "Huh? Build a bridge and get over it, will ya?! How can you possibly know just how _committed_ I am too?"

Ryuji frowned. "By your annoying classroom habits," he jeered.

The girls watched silently as the boys began to argue again. "Not this again..." Renzo sighed. "Dude, why don't we just ignore all this and push it aside, okay?"

Instead of thinking, Renzo's friend shouted back, "shut up! You just stay out of this!" Renzo raised his shoulders, giving up.

Ryuji eyed Rin with a hard-edged look, his teeth grit hard as a thought ran through his head. _Special treatment, huh? He's probably one of those damn rich kids._

"Bon, you're being way over your head with this..." Renzo added. But instead of shouting back at him, Ryuji smiled as an idea popped in his head. He formed a crooked smirk as he said, "well, if you're so _committed_, why don't you prove it to me!"

Rin remained calm as he raised an eyebrow, "how?"

"By that!" Ryuji spun around and pointed his finger at the Reaper down below them. "Go down there, and touch it. Reapers read the emotions of people that approach them; fear, anger, sadness, jealousy...any sign of wavering, and you're dead meat." His words chilled both Paku and Shiemi. Shiemi watched Rin, anxiously awaiting for his response. Whatever he was going to say, she hoped it wasn't the answer that will get him killed.

"Of course, I'll do it, too! And I'll win! If you can go down there and come back alive, you'll earn my respect. So what about it?" Ryuji awaited for the answer.

The others watched and waited for Rin. He shoved his hands in his pockets and kicked a small stone on the concrete. He shrugged his shoulders, "sure, I'll do it." The others gasped in horror.

Suguro only smiled again when suddenly the next thing Rin said turned it upside down.

"Although I can be stupid, I ain't stupid enough to do _that_, unlike you, dumbass," Rin said with a bored frown and a finger up his nose, "so no, I ain't gonna do it." Rin gestured his head towards his sword slinging on his shoulder. He had best avoided anything involved with fighting with his sword, otherwise, the students might not really like what they might see, never mind run away like hell was on their tails.

"What?!" Suguro shouted.

"What if I actually died? I wouldn't want to lose my life over something insane like that!" Rin said. Ryuji was about to say something when Rin cut him off. "Besides," Rin eyed the teen, "I've got the same ambition as you do, moron. I wouldn't let that go to waste."

Shima deeply regretted spilling Ryuji's ambition, and now he felt he should run before Ryuji turns his skin inside out.

Suguro was flabbergasted, then that feeling doubled and his anger boiled within him as he looked back to Shima. Shima broke out in a sweat as he was staring at the person who's going to become his murderer in a few seconds. "...You _told_ him?" Shima was three words away from being killed.

"Um, it kinda slipped out..." Shima let out a jittery chuckle. Suguro's eyes wavered away from Shima, who sighed in relief, and faced Rin with the same murderous look.

"Same ambition, huh?!" Suguro cried out, "you're just scared, that's what!"

"How am I scared?" Rin let out a toothy grin, "I'm not scared to face him. Why do you keep this secret? Maybe _you're_ the one who's scared." Rin whistled coolly as he locked his fingers at the back of his neck.

Rin's whistling died down when he met a pair of familiar brown, bland eyes. He realized Amitiel was staring at him, and for some reason, he was assuming she was disdainful about him. He could just feel the aura giving off her, and it wasn't a really positive one.

_He lied_, Amitiel continued to stare at him when he looked away. She was so sure of it, he _was_ scared of Satan, it was so easily exposed that she didn't even need to look in his eyes to see that he was scared. Every human should be scared of the Devil, if not, they're blatantly lying to themselves. Obviously, Rin hasn't come face to face with Satan, or else he would have been dead; burned into ashes.

"I... am _not_ scared, at least I'm courageous enough to even consider it! Even if no one understood!" Suguro shouted so loud his voice echoed across the gym area. Memories regarding his ambition replayed in his mind, from those times kids whispered about him, calling him the 'Cursed Child' and avoided him because they feared of becoming cursed when approaching him. Of course, that was the least of Suguro's concern. He didn't care what people thought of him, those despicable bastards. But what he really did care about was the fact that his father, the head priest of the fallen temple, encouraged Suguro to forgive what had happened to the temple, and that he should live a normal life. Suguro was only 8 years old, but he didn't want to play sports or go to the park, he wasn't interested in hobbies a typical boy at his age would love. No, he admired the art of Buddhism. Every time his father prayed, Suguro would join him and recite the prayers with him. Suguro even read books about Buddhist sutras and mantras, and basically memorized all of them.

Suguro didn't even consider what he should do when he was going to grow up. Instead of university, Suguro wanted to inherit the temple his father would pass down to him when his time comes, solely so that he can rebuild all of the damage Satan did to it, and heal the scars of those affected by the loss of those priests, especially Konekomaru. His parents were also murdered by those flames, and Suguro vowed to re-establish his temple and avenge those that had fallen.

"Ryuji, you do not need to inherit this temple," his father had said as he walked down a street in Kyoto. A young Ryuji ran up to him and stopped him in his tracks.

"How... how can you say that?! This is what I want!" Suguro cried out, he could feel the tears form under his eyes. "The temple, all of it, it was all Satan's fault! How can you just brush that away? He needs to pay!" Suguro clenched his tiny fists.

"Ryuji, you need to accept this and move on," his father simply said, then walked past Suguro, leaving him with a bewildered look in his eyes. He just couldn't believe this guy, how can he ignore this? No matter how much his father tries to forget, the Blue Night that had occurred had already happened. He couldn't stop the anger that was building up within him.

Overwhelmed, Suguro gathered all his courage as he released the truth out of his mouth, all of it. "I'm going to become an exorcist! And I'm gonna defeat Satan! And when I do, I'll fix the temple!"

Suguro's father stopped dead in his tracks and stood still, rather speechless as he looked back at his son. Suddenly, Suguro stared at his father in deep hurt when his father burst out laughing. His laughs forced the tears hiding at the corners of Suguro's eyes to slip out and roll on his cheeks.

"Defeat... Satan? What a comical thing to say! Kids and their imaginations these days!" Suguro's father chuckled.

"I'm serious! What don't you understand?!" Suguro clenched his teeth and fists, his tears continued to pour down his face.

_Why..._

"Why won't you fight?! Aren't you frustrated or something?" Suguro called out on Rin. Rin didn't say anything.

"Y'know what? Screw it, I'll do it myself!" Everyone's eyes widened when Ryuji skidded down towards the demon. "You just watch me, ya wimp!"

"Is your master planning on throwing himself towards death?" Amitiel added with a side glance towards the two companions. The bald boy looked nervous.

"He'll chicken out anyways. What a dumbass," Izumo Kamiki commented instead of one of the boys. Amitiel observed Ryuji approach the demon with a puffed out chest. He walked confidently with fists balled up by his sides.

"_I..._" Ryuji closed his eyes and said the words out of courage. "_I..._" Ryuji paused, opened his eyes to stare straight into the demon's large orbs, "_I'm gonna defeat Satan!_"

Everyone stayed silent from the amount of nerve-wracking suspense, except for Izumo. She suddenly covered her mouth and laughed at Suguro, her laughs felt like a punch in the stomach to Suguro as he gasped in surprise... and humiliation. Her laughs began to feel as if his own father was laughing at him again. He could only stay still, gripped with mortification, as tears began to sting the back of his eyes. In the demon's eye, a reflection of his younger self was seen with the same, pain-stricken face he had when his father had the same reaction. Laughs echoed throughout his mind as his emotions came out as words, "don't laugh...at my... AMBITION!"

It was too late to realize Suguro had lost when the demon's pupils slit into thin black lines and it roared, bearing its teeth dripping with saliva. It suddenly pounced towards Ryuji, but he was too emotionally distracted to realize it.

"Bon!" The young bald boy screamed, which snapped Ryuji back into reality, then realized he was going to die as the demon lunged itself at him, roaring violently. Everyone watched in despair at the scene, too shocked to even react. Not in Rin's case. Shiemi screamed when Rin rushed off and jumped into the field. He landed right between Suguro and the demon, forcing the demon to attack Rin instead of the latter. A huge force struck Rin harder than getting hit by a car. The Reaper drove itself into Rin's body with its large jaws, sinking its teeth together in his flesh — crushing him. Suguro's tears streamed down as he cried out, "NO! OKUMURA!"

"Rin!" Shiemi screamed and fell down on her knees in despair and horror. Dust had formed around Rin and the Reaper, and tension built to the max. The students desperately hoped the one coming out of that cloud of dust was not the demon.

Amitiel's eyes widened only slightly when the dust cleared to reveal something she never expected. The dust cleared and there, standing with the demon's jaws around him, Rin—alive—stood still as the demon slowly released him from its mouth and withdrew with a sheer sense of shame. The students gasped as Rin laid his hand on the demon's nose as it lowered its head.

"_What the hell..._ Are you that dumb or something?" Rin said in a low growl, maintaining his gaze on the demon, with his dark blue bangs covering his eyes.

Ryuji's eyes were so wide he was afraid they might fall out. All the students, except Amitiel, were too speechless to even make a sound.

_He... really is an idiot_, Amitiel thought. _I'm surprised he's even alive but..._ Amitiel narrowed her eyes in suspicion at Rin. It was quite unlikely for a demon to recoil from a human, normally, they would attack on instinct, that's what all demons did. However, Rin seemed more terrifying then the demon. Then Amitiel assumed he must have taming abilities, or was there something else involved? It was rather suspicious.

After Rin took a long inhale, he whipped himself around and faced Ryuji with a look of sincerity. "Now listen up!" He shouted. "I'm the one who's gonna defeat Satan! So stay the hell out of my way!" Rin roared.

"What?!" Suguro cried out, his head felt like it was spinning. No way did he imagine someone else admit the same ambition as he did, and in public. _Is... Is he crazy?!_ Well, any other way, Ryuji thought he was hypocritical since he should be considered crazy too.

"No way, man! Ya just stole my idea!" Ryuji spat back as Rin frowned intensely.

"Huh? Since when did I steal it?!_ I'm_ the original!" Rin shouted back with arms raised in the air.

"You liar! I came up with it before you did!"

"Oh really? What year, what month, what day, what hour, what minute, what freakin' _second_?!"

"Far earlier than yours!"

* * *

"... He hasn't drawn his power out yet," Yukio Okumura said as he lowered his pistol, which was pointing at one of the students. In his other hand was his phone, which was held up against his ear. "The students' safety hasn't been compromised, fortunately," Yukio spoke as he observed the students from afar, behind one of the concrete walls of the training facility. This whole time he hid in secrecy as he observed all the students carefully, especially on one in particular.

"Very well, perhaps he may have his powers in control, after all," the voice on the other line answered. Yukio hesitated for a moment before he responded with a low tone, "I wouldn't be so overly enthusiastic over this." And with that said, Yukio hung up.

Yukio's eyes narrowed down as a single thought passed through his mind. _The power of Satan is not to be underestimated, it may be more uncontrollable than you may assume, Sir Mephisto Pheles_. Yukio placed his pistol back in its holster on the side of his belt as he left the scene.

* * *

Up on the great top of a building in construction, Samael took a sip from his relaxing hot cup of tea, then set it down on the small, china plate in his gloved hand. He watched in supremacy at the majestic True Cross Academy—his academy—looming over in the distance of the city, surrounded by the dark night sky. The wind was cool and relaxing, and it brushed through the demon's cape, causing it to dance in the air. The city lights lit up the ground, illuminating the underside of the black clouds in the sky with a dark, deep yellow glow. The sound of cars could be heard throughout the roads below him and over to the academy. Japan seemed to never fall asleep.

Mephisto felt a rush of energy wash over him as he turned his head to the side to find a young man dressed in odd clothing, just like him. Unlike Samael's clownish, formal wear, this young being was dressed in a gothic fashion. He wore a tan coloured short-sleeved vest with bones as buttons along the middle, along with a striped black, pink and purple shirt under the vest. Under the collar of this shirt was a yellow, white striped tie that hung loosely over his chest. Under his clothes he wore what seemed to be a long-sleeved forest-green undershirt, which was quite tight and traced the muscles protruding on his arms. Over this outfit was a long, mahogany red top coat which was ripped on the edges of its back, and the sleeves were rolled back to the being's elbows. He also wore shorts that reached up to his knees, which had a polka dot pattern with the same colour as his top coat, strapped together by a belt with a skull belt loop. Under his pants were the same green-coloured under clothes, and his feet wore black, clownish, gothic boots with more skulls. Altogether, he seemed to be dressed up for some Halloween event, but what really diverted himself from normal was the fact that, just like Samael, his hair colour was an odd, forest green colour with a light-green spike protruding from the top of his head, like a cone.

"I'm sorry for being late," the being said, his voice was slightly higher pitched than a man.

"Well, long time no see, Amaimon, king of Earth," Samael smirked sinisterly and took another sip of his tea.

"Yes, it has been a while, brother," Amaimon replied. Mephisto noticed he brought his beloved pet Hobgoblin. Its big bulgy eyes on its ugly face were staring right at Samael, it scrunched up its face as it bared its sharp teeth. The little monster was strapped to a leather leash which Amaimon held onto with one hand.

"Now tell me, how did Father respond...?" Samael watched the scene patiently as he awaited Amaimon's response.

Amaimon lowered his chin, "... He accepts your proposal, brother."

"Splendid!" Samael replied immediately, delighted by his response. A sharp, wide smile formed across his face, revealing his sharp canine fangs. "I have another message to deliver then, tell him that I've taken our younger brother into my custody, and that he is maturing steadily." He finished with a sip of his tea.

"Understood," Amaimon replied, but then something else touched his mind. "Brother... when are you coming home?" He tilted his head aside, wondering.

"Go," Samael ignored his question. "Don't make Father wait, he isn't quite the patient type."

"As you wish," Amaimon said, bowed, and then disappeared from thin air. Samael, alone again, took his one last cup of tea before he spoke, "heh, of course I will never return to such a monotone place. For an audacious being like me, there can be no better adventure then this!"

Mephisto's maniacal smile spread and he opened his arms as he shouted, "the real fun is just beginning!" He laughed over the city lights and buildings.

* * *

Shiemi's body jumped a little when a pile of heavy, dusty books slammed onto the desk beside her. One of the books was entitled _Oppression and Possession_; a heavier, more ancient-looking one, _An Intro to Demonology: 2nd Edition, 1984_, was at the point of crumbling in his hands. Rin fell onto his chair, grabbed a book, flipped it open, and finally built up the courage to stare into the large white sea of tiny black words. Rin mumbled under his breath as he tried to make out the language, he wasn't even sure if it even was in Japanese.

"Good afternoon, Nii-san," Yukio walked over calmly towards his determined brother. Then suddenly he noticed something, "what are you doing?"

Rin bit his lip in hesitation. He opened his mouth slightly and buried his face in the book (which smelt like century-old dust). "...I-I'm studying," Rin spoke quietly.

"What?" Yukio's eyebrows flew up.

"I said I'm studying, goddammit! What do you think I was doing?! Just staring at a book for no apparent reason?" Rin threw a fierce glare.

Yukio was more startled then Shiemi, as if Rin had passed his first test, "I-Is this some sort of sign of the A-Apocalypse?!" Yukio gasped in horror and covered his mouth.

"Oh, shut _up_!" Rin screamed. "I... I'm not as learning disabled as you may think!"

Rin looked down at the book but suddenly flicked his hair aside with his head. His navy strands fell back to their original place, covering his eyes. Rin groaned as he held his bangs back by raking his fingers through them.

"Damn it, these bangs are such a pain in the _ass_-"

Ironically, Rin shut up when a tall, delinquent-looking guy overshadowed him. Ryuji looked down at Rin with a neutral look. His hands were in his pockets and overall, he looked relaxed.

"What up? You gonna mock me too?" Rin sneered.

Ryuji looked around himself, then responded, "no. I just wanted to say something to you..." Ryuji closed his eyes and bit his lip, as he reluctantly said, "thanks."

Rin's mouth went south as soon as he heard the unexpected.

Instead, Ryuji wasn't finished shocking Rin. He pulled out a long, metal clip from his pocket and handed it to the now speechless boy. Okay, that freaked Rin out more than the fact he survived a Reaper attack. Rin was hesitant to touch that thing in his hand.

"I use this for my hair to keep it out of my face whenever I study. You can borrow it, if you like," Rin swore he saw colour run up to Ryuji's cheeks. So he's human, thank god. Rin cautiously took the clip and stared at it, when Ryuji began walking away.

"Is this some kind of sign of the Apocalypse?" Rin stared back at Ryuji with the same, surprised glance.

"Hey! I was just being nice! Nice ain't evil, okay?!" Ryuji yelled back, as Yukio was about to have a heart attack and Shiemi was trying not to lose her sanity.

Rin caught a sufficient amount of bangs and pinned them back. Suddenly, a satisfied smile spread across the boy's face as he said, "hey! This thing actually works! Thanks, Suguro!"

"Really?" Yukio said as he rested his fingers on his chin, "it does give you a feminine touch."

"What?!" Rin shouted, "At least I don't have four eyes... Four-Eyes!"

* * *

By the time Rin's school day was over, and he had finished cram school, it was nearly 6 at night. Rin bustled himself in the kitchen he owned in the abandoned dorm. It may not have the most up-to-date, technological miracles of appliances, but it was enough to at least cook something decently. However, one thing Rin was not impressed about was the fact that it looked like a _dump_. Rin, being basically the housewife of the dorm, was always using his homework time to wipe down every square inch of this filthy kitchen. He even found a mouse nest in the cabinets on the floor, which also had a savage stench in it. The cookware was somewhat rusty, so Rin had to buy some new pots and pans, at least he brought his favourite rice cooker his father bought for him on his 10th birthday, it still worked like magic despite its age. The dorm's rice cooker was like an abomination to the kitchen—typical for something that probably hasn't been used for decades.

"Argh, crap, I forgot to buy some pork..." Rin cursed to himself, realizing the fridge lacked most of the ingredients he needed to make supper for himself and Yukio, and the dish he planned to make required pork.

Speaking about supper, Rin debated with himself if Hana would show up. He could make the excuse that he and Yukio had no talent at cooking, well in Yukio's case, he could make a two year old baby look better at making pancakes without burning the whole building down, in fact, he actually burnt one of Rin's most prized pans he got from saving up on his birthday money. Yukio had the brains but not the brains to cook. That pan was worth quite a bit for a damn pan, but it worked beautifully, despite his father yelled at him for spending that much money on a pan when he could save up on college money or something more important (but it was worth it though).

But to Rin, cooking and food was what's most important to him, besides family. He had cooked dinner for the family back at his monastery since he was five, and it was something he actually enjoyed about himself. It was basically the only talent he was good at. When he would be upset or was just bummed out, Rin would make one of his favourite dishes, called _sukiyaki_, mainly because it was mostly made of meat—perfect for a carnivore like himself.

"Well, I could make some _okonomiyaki_..." Rin spoke to himself as he observed the fridge, then took out some ingredients such as cabbage, then took out some flour to be used for the batter. He set everything on the large island in the middle of the kitchen. Rin mixed the batter together in a small bowl, and took out a cutting board and began to mince vegetables for the toppings. He then fetched the necessary equipment to grill it.

Many sounds of pans and pots clattering against each other filled the kitchen, with Rin cursing loudly. He reached deeper into the cabinet under the island to fetch a particular pan that would prevent the batter from sticking to it. Rin was seconds away from touching the pan when a voice broke through the clanging metal.

"Who's there?" That was definitely not Yukio, Rin was sure since it wasn't masculine. He thought it might be Shiemi, but this voice sounded too monotone for her sweet, vibrant voice.

Rin acted on instinct and stood up, only to bang his head hard against the ceiling of the cabinet. A loud, deep 'bonk' was heard while Rin screamed in agony. "Ow! Son of a bitch!" Rin yelped and managed to pull out of the cabinet and clasp his hands over his head. More pots fell out with him and scattered around the floor, still carrying out that loud, metal clanging sound throughout the kitchen. Amitiel stood with a bored stare, patiently waiting as Rin muttered to himself as he scooped up all his precious kitchen equipment.

After the kitchen became silent, Amitiel asked, "you can cook?"

Rin sucked in his breath and finally shut the cabinet doors, sealing the pots and pans inside. Rin rested himself against the island, arms resting on the wooden counter top. "No, I'm just cleaning up—"

"Stop that," Amitiel bluntly cut him off, which shut Rin up. He frowned derisively at the angel.

"Excuse me?" Rin raised an eyebrow, with a hint of insolence.

"You're lying again. How many times do you lie a day?" Amitiel replied.

Rin was only taken aback, he blinked multiple times and responded, "enough in my lifetime. Why do you care?"

"Because I know you did," the angel said. "I can see when you lie, so why do you lie? You obviously enjoy cooking, or else you would have been gone to the school's cafeteria, am I correct?"

_Just... what the hell is her problem?_ Rin thought. "Look, to tell you the truth, I don't like you. At all." Rin simply put, but Amitiel remained silent, unaffected by his hurtful response. "... so I don't really want to make you supper. _That_ is the truth."

"As long as you're honest, I don't care," Amitiel shook her head. Rin wrinkled his nose and scratched his head in confusion as Amitiel slowly sat down on a chair at the dining table just outside the kitchen. Rin could see the table across the windowless hole between the kitchen and table.

"I'm not really that hungry anyways," Amitiel added as she looked around herself. While he was cutting he glanced ahead at Amitiel, who had her silver blade in her hand and it danced between her fingers. Rin didn't really hope she would stay with him, especially since he wanted to keep a distance from her, but for some reason, she was always here. He would see her everywhere; he felt a bit stalked.

Amitiel continued to play with her blade in her hand, it swung back and forth in the palm of her hand as she kept her gaze away from Rin and stared down at the hall.

"You're a strange one," she suddenly broke the silence.

Rin stopped cutting and scraped the vegetables into the small bowl with the batter and mixed it with a wooden spoon. He began cutting cabbage. "Huh? I'm strange?" He set his knife down and stared at her in consternation.

"You almost sacrificed yourself to save Suguro-kun," she replied as she looked down at the blade in her hands. "I never expected you to do that. Did it hurt?"

Rin wasn't sure if he should answer or not. After a moment's hesitation, he replied, "nah, I'm a little sore, but it's nothing." Rin shrugged his shoulders and returned to his cooking. Rin poured the batter on the pan and it sizzled loudly.

"Rin, you are a perfect example of an exorcist," Amitiel added, and Rin almost dropped his pan on his foot.

"Huh?!" Rin said with wide eyes. He had never, not even a snowball's chance in hell, expected a _compliment_ coming from that mouth of hers. Should he take it as a compliment, if she wasn't just making it up?

"You have a very strong will, I can see it. You have so much control over yourself and your mind. Most importantly, you always put other's lives above yours. That's the golden rule to being a mighty exorcist," Amitiel continued. "I may not agree with your attitude, but—that's understandable, I guess..."

Rin wanted to deny what she just said. This time, he knew she was blindly lying about himself. What really touched him as a lie, was the fact that she thought he had control over himself. Sure, he couldn't control himself about Suguro, but for another reason, he wasn't in control, far from it. He felt like a beast most of his life, and he feels obligated to control the monster within him—his inner demons. He had hurt people because of himself.

On the other hand, Rin felt a small spark in his heart. He actually did have a pinch of gratitude for what she said. But... was she serious about it?

"...Thanks?" Rin didn't know how to really respond to that. He scratched his head, then looked up to her, who had no trace of happiness on her face. He started to doubt if she was serious about it or just didn't care.

"I guess there's no point in you keeping your distance—since were in the same classes," Rin added as he poured noodles into a boiling pot, and placed a lid on top.

Amitiel shuffled in her seat, crossed her arms, and then set her blade down on the table, "I never had the intention of threatening you." Rin remained silent about that. "Instead, I think I want to help you."

Rin almost tipped the boiling pot over. He felt she was surprising him so much it might get him killed.

"Help me? With what?" Rin replied sharply, observing the angel with crossed arms.

"Um... your—That stuff?" Amitiel pointed at the large bag sitting on the table. Piles of manga spilled out, along with some books and paper, and a small set of keys.

"You mean homework?" Rin raised an eyebrow, and Amitiel nodded. Rin looked away from her and replied while stirring the noodles with a wooden spoon, "I'm fine, no worries."

"You received a 2 last time I heard, uh... Rin."

"I don't give a damn about those numbers," Rin simply said while maintaining his attention on his supper. He honestly couldn't care less about school, he never had the intention of going to high school anyway. However, certain circumstances forced him to reconsider that.

"Well..." Amitiel spoke. "If you really do start to worry... about those numbers, I can be at your service. I can only offer you my knowledge in Exorcism and nothing else outside that learning zone."

"Really? But don't you..." Rin trailed away, "... Hate me, too?"

Amitiel tilted her head aside and replied, "I was never mad at you, just—" Amitiel ran out of words, she couldn't really express herself correctly.

Rin waited for her to finish when she suddenly pushed her chair back and stood up. "Well, I guess I must go eat. You should have supper with your brother only," she said with her back turned on him.

Amitiel was about to take a step towards the hallway when Rin added, "h-hey!" Rin looked at the food that was nearly complete. "... You don't have to go to the cafeteria, the food's quite pricey. Want some homemade _okonomiyaki_?" Rin said as he raised a finished plate towards her.

* * *

**A/N: nothing to say here, but hopefully you are enjoying this story! If there's anyone that has been reading this, thank you so much!**

******The next chapter will be Shiemi-centric, plus I love Shiemi, so I'll have fun writing the next one! There's also some interaction between Izumo and Amitiel**

**I know I'm being a little annoying with this, but I need some reviews. I need to know from other people if my story is good or not, or if my character is likeable and realistic. It really helps, it does.**


	8. Chapter 7: Lie to Be a Friend

**Disclaimer: Blue Exorcist (****青の祓魔師（エクソシスト****)) belongs to Kazue Kato. This is created for entertainment purposes only, no profit was made. Please support the author by purchasing her books!**

* * *

_**天使火災—**__**Angel Fire**_

_**Chapter 7: Lie to Be a Friend —**__**友人ひとつのある～に向かって嘘**_

* * *

**"Shiemi, don't forget to bring your lunch!" A womanly voice called up from the main floor.**

"Yes, mother!" Shiemi called back and walked into her kitchen to fetch the box of _bento_ sitting flat on the counter. Shiemi went down the stairs to the _Futsumaya_ shop, since it was directly built within her own house. Her mother was busy unlocking the door and opening some curtains. Overall, the place was slightly dark but roomy. The walls leading up to the desk her mother worked at were covered by golden wooden shelves marked with different names of pharmaceutical chemicals and plants. The room was painted a deep mahogany red and a dim, yellow light shone on the ceiling. The scent of herbs, wood, and incense danced in the air.

"By the way, Shiemi," her mother said. "Have you found any luck making friends?" Her mother sat down at her desk and waved an elegant cigarette holder and placed it into her mouth, then breathed out a light puff of smoke.

Shiemi reached down to fetch her wooden clogs then snuggled her feet into them. She turned around with a confident smile, "yes, I have, mother!"

"Well, that's good news!" Her mother beamed. "Perhaps one of your friends can come over sometime."

"Of course," Shiemi smiled again, fixed her kimono, then stepped out of the door and made her way towards the bridge reaching the academy.

Shiemi breathed in the whistling wind blowing across the bridge. It was quite quiet over this bridge, since it was hundreds of feet above the busy, overcrowded ground. Her home was located on a large, thick tower belonging to True Cross Academy, so it was normally breezy near her house. She thought the bridge was beautiful at night, especially with a wide, open view of the city.

However, as soon as she walked out the door, her mother's words hit her. Shiemi sighed in gloom, "...friends, huh?" Shiemi spoke to herself as she walked to the door to the academy in discouragement. The fact that Rin bluntly shouted she wasn't considered a friend really felt like a slap to her face. She didn't really have _any_ friends in her lifetime, to be honest. But for some reason, she _chose_ to seclude herself. She thought of people as... Judgmental, loud, and overall scary. In spite of that, she thinks it would be better for herself if she made an effort to talk to people, instead of over generalizing people in general.

Her only special person she truly felt comfortable around was her grandma. To Shiemi, her grandma was the only friend and family she ever asked. Her grandma was the reason she was so interested in gardening. Her grandma would always teach her the manner of gardening. Since Shiemi has been homeschooled, she's been pretty lonely, so her grandma always kept her busy with the garden. Shiemi had also been a great help to her grandma since her grandma started to have issues with her legs.

Shiemi clearly envisioned her special moment with her grandma. While Shiemi was busy planting some perennials, her grandma informed her about the existence of the _Amahara Garden_ when she was just a little girl.

"Huh? What's the Amahara Garden?" Shiemi asked with her innocent, acute voice.

"Ah, it is a heavenly place, Shiemi. Myths have said that the Amahara Garden is a special place created by God, in which all of the plants around the world were grown there," her grandma explained. Shiemi stopped planting and smiled brilliantly, "wow... I wanna go there! It sounds like Heaven! Let's search for it sometime, grandma!"

Unfortunately, Shiemi's idea couldn't be fulfilled since her grandma passed away. Shiemi was mortified with guilt and blamed herself for her death, and that was how she was tempted by the demon, which paralyzed her legs.

Shiemi's only true best friend was gone, taken away from her. But for wherever her grandma is, she hoped she was at peace in the Amahara Garden, watched over and cared for.

Shiemi felt the back of her eyes sting as tears began to cloud her vision. Her lips quivered as Shiemi tried to hold back her tears.

_I mustn't cry..._ Shiemi told herself. Suddenly, Shiemi felt a rush of encouragement as she shook her head and wiped away the tears in her eyes. She balled up her fists and exclaimed, "no, now's not the time to cry! Today, I'll make my first friend!" Shiemi pulled out a magic key and placed it in its hole on the door. She twisted it and with a click, opened the door to the dense, empty cram school hall.

Shiemi stepped into the hall and the door shut on her. She walked down the hall when she stopped to hear other footsteps nearby. She saw ahead of her Izumo and her friend, Paku, arrive in the hall just at the same time Shiemi did. How lucky!

_Wait!_ Shiemi exclaimed. _Izumo-chan... She could be my first friend!_

Shiemi gathered her courage as she caught up to the girls as she yelled, "HELLO—!"Suddenly Shiemi's foot twisted and she fell onto the ground. Her shoes went flying along with her purse.

Her purse flew until it was caught by someone. Shiemi moaned in pain as she hurriedly gathered her things, and came eye to eye with Amitiel, with Shiemi's pink purse in one of her hands.

Shiemi remained silent, her eyes glistened with tears as she stared at the two girls. Izumo, on her part, merely rolled her eyes as she scoffed, "what a klutz."

Shiemi turned crimson from embarrassment.

With a sense of superiority, the purple-haired girl flicked one of her long pigtails back with her forehand and continued on down the long, empty hallway.

"A-are you okay, Moriyama-san?" Paku asked with her fingers over her mouth.

Shiemi nodded sheepishly. "Okay, be careful next time," Paku shot a friendly smile. Her soft voice soothed Shiemi's anxiety. Paku turned around to catch up with Izumo.

"Is this yours?" Amitiel asked solemnly as she passed the purse to its owner. Shiemi grabbed it and held it tightly.

"P-please..." Shiemi mumble as she remained her head low.

"What is it?" Amitiel asked with a bland look.

"... Don't hurt me," Shiemi looked up into Amitiel's dark, hollow brown eyes. Although Amitiel should be shocked, she was far from that. In truth, Amitiel didn't expect the young blonde to feel comfortable around her, ever since she pulled her blade on one of her friends, Rin.

Amitiel went on her knees and picked up some other things that Shiemi dropped, such as her pencil case and makeup. "I'm not gonna hurt you, that's not what I wanna do," Amitiel said as she passed the things over to Shiemi. Shiemi bowed her head down, her bangs covered most of her face.

"Shiemi? What're you doing on the floor?"

Amitiel looked up to find Rin standing in front of them. The red cover for his sword was slung over his left shoulder, and his school bag was on the other.

Amitiel felt Shiemi jolt at his presence, embarrassment swirled inside the young blonde as she directed her face at the boy, "Rin..."

Amitiel noticed the girl formed tiny tears around the bottoms of her eyes, her lips quivered heavily as her cheeks flushed red. She hastily picked up her bag, bolted up, and sped off away from the angel and Rin as she blurted out, "I-It's nothing!"

"Whoa, what's up with her?" Rin remarked as the blond sped down the hallway. Amitiel didn't respond, she was trying to decipher what Shiemi's eyes were doing.

* * *

Everyone in the class raised their chins up as soon as Yukio held a large (possibly heavy) stack of booklets in his hand as he announced, "summer break is almost here, which means the _Exwire Certification Exam_ is coming up." All the students, including Amitiel, were not amused by this reminder.

"Pages undergo special battle training, which will test your competence in exorcism, and judge whether or not you are worthy to be promoted to the Exwire rank. So don't expect this to be easy," Yukio added, something that crushed the students' confidence in hoping it would be a piece of cake.

Amitiel rested her cheek against her palm, showing no interest in the exam as Yukio continued to speak, "so next week, we will hold an intensive study camp."

"Camp?" Rin sat up immediately and his face lit up.

"Yes, _camp_," Yukio's eye twitched behind his glass spectacles. "By the way, how was your nap, Nii-san?" Yukio said sharply.

"Oh, I had the best dream ever. I dreamt of sitting around a campfire eating s'mores—"

"This camp will not take place in a forest," Yukio cut him off. "Think of it as a massive test, in other words, an Exwire Certification _exam_."

"Whoa, okay!" Rin raised his hands up in surrender. Today must be one of those days Yukio acted possessed. The majority is due to Rin, obviously. No one pissed his twin off more than he did.

Yukio heaved an exasperated sigh and passed the sheets and booklets in his hands. Everyone observed the print on the paper as Yukio added, "now then, to wrap things up, the last thing I need is for you to circle whether you wish to participate, and fill in your desired _Meister_ by Monday."

Rin observed the sheet without a clue, miserable that his own brother assigned him what he thinks is homework, "Meister? What's a friggin'—"

Rin stopped and cocked his head towards Shiemi, she looked up at him immediately with expectation in her green eyes, "Yes?"

Rin stared and blinked, then quickly turned his head towards the sheet in his hands with rose cheeks, "N-never mind..."

Rin looked beside him and observed Hana, then at Izumo, but they were both busy reading the sheet. He knew Hana definitely would not know what a Meister is, he swore that head of hers is literally empty, both with thoughts and emotions, and he decided Shiemi wasn't quite someone he could rely on without blushing intensely and creating an awkward scene. He would probably choke on his own words when trying to talk to her. Izumo seemed to hate everyone in the class, so she's not an option. Rin sighed, a bit disappointed and embarrassed at the remaining option left. Rin pushed back his chair and walked reluctantly towards the trio.

"What's a Meister?" Rin said bluntly as he held up his sheet, "could someone tell me, please?"

Ryuji Suguro shot him a disdainful look as if he couldn't count to ten. "What?! You don't even know that?! Oh, c'mon, gimme a break!" He shouted in utter anger.

"Wow, Okumura, you don't know anything, do you?" Shima chuckled.

Rin tried to act innocent. "Aw, come on, guys, some people of like that..."

The bald boy began speaking, "a Meister is—"

"Don't tell him, Konekomaru!" Suguro cut Konekomaru off when he restated Rin's question.

Konekomaru intentionally ignored his friend and answered Rin's question with a carefree smile, "a Meister is defined as a skill qualification you need to earn in order to become an exorcist. There are five types: knight, dragoon, tamer, aria, and doctor. Each Meister fights a different way, and only one is required in order to become an exorcist."

After Konekomaru finished, Suguro fell silent with frustration as Rin smiled with gratitude, fully understanding Konekomaru's intelligible explanation. "I think I got it! Thanks, Konekomaru!"

"Not a problem! Glad I could help!" Konekomaru smiled.

"Since when did you two get along?!" Suguro jumped in upon noticing a friendly conversation starting.

Rin and Konekomaru paid no attention to their angered friend, "Shima and I are gonna be arias. Arias recite the Bible and sutras to fight." Konekomaru said as Shima introduced himself with a wave of his hand.

"Bon is going all gung-ho, so he wants to be a dragoon and an aria!" Shima pitched in.

Rin looked back at an over raged Bon with wide eyes, "very ambitious, Bon!"

Suguro lost his composure and corrected Rin's remark, "Suguro! Don't you dare call me 'Bon'!"

"Did you know that Okumura-sensei is a doctor and a dragoon?" Konekomaru stated matter-of-factly.

Rin's eyebrows flew up. "Really? That's cool..." He focused back at the sheet with another question, "so which one should I choose? What about a dragoon?"

Suguro smacked down his fist on the wooden desk.

"Oh, for the love of—you're a friggin' pain! A dragoon fights with firearms and a knight fights with a sword! Get it right!" Suguro shouted impatiently.

At the mention of the knight's capability, Rin immediately made up his decision, "a sword? Then I'm gonna be a knight!" Rin looked down at his sheet contently.

"Oh, yes, you always carry a sword." Konekomaru noticed the sword on Rin's shoulder.

Amitiel noticed Rin looked down in gloom at the mention of his sword as he wrote quietly on the paper, his upbeat mood had drowned.

_Well... Why would he be in pact with a demon sword?_ Amitiel thought. She could feel its aura emanating in pulses, it was so dark it sent her senses shivering out of control. This must be a very powerful sword, she hadn't felt this much power since a long time ago.

Amitiel slowly looked back and laid her eyes on the unmarked sheet before her. The only skill she solely specialized in was also a knight, since she only owned her demon blade. She circled the knight section.

The angel breathed out and closed her eyes tight. She entered a deep state of concentration, as she began to analyze and detect the presence of the son of Satan, however, she had no success—as if she didn't even have the ability to sense demons, which made her feel powerless. All she could feel was that damn demon sword, its power was too strong it obscured all other aurae around her, even she couldn't quite feel Izumo's soul behind her. It was like trying to listen to someone in a loud, overcrowded area.

Ever since she had entered this academy, all she felt was the power leaking out of Rin's sword, just what does he have sealed in there? It could be a high-class demon, but even that class of demon didn't have such raw power as _this_. She couldn't explain it, it was some peculiar feeling, and it was as if the sword was actually messing with her senses, like it was trying to prevent her from finding the son of Satan. Without her ability functioning properly, it was like looking for the son of Satan blindfolded.

If only she could destroy that sword, her senses would snap back into place, and she could proceed...

_Perhaps he's in this very room right now..._ Amitiel told herself, and she opened her eyes. She had an idea. Raziel had told her once that she may not even need to rely on her senses to find him, perhaps if she actually investigated and found some clues they could lead her closer to his identity. To Amitiel, merely observing just didn't seem to be enough.

Amitiel looked back at the boys, Rin and the Kyoto trio were busy chatting, except for Suguro, who only crossed his arms and leaned back on his chair with a frown. At least Rin and Suguro aren't rolling on the floor choking each other to death.

Amitiel handed her paper to Yukio and walked over to the boys.

"Oh, have you decided anything... Tanaka-san?" Konekomaru asked Sheepishly. He stuttered a bit.

"Indeed, I have. I decided to be a knight," Amitiel responded as she gestured towards the blade under her skirt.

"Hey! Me too!" Rin exclaimed. Amitiel wasn't sure if Rin was disappointed or surprised.

"I don't care," Amitiel bluntly responded, and Rin withdrew himself from her.

"Look, I have some questions to ask you. Answer them honestly," Amitiel said as she turned towards Suguro with a sharp eye.

Ryuji rested his hands on the back of his neck as he leaned back on his chair. The look on his face indicated he was not in the mood, at all.

"Do you sometimes become so angry you literally flare up without burning yourself?" Amitiel asked, which earned her an intense frown with confusion.

"What?" Suguro blurted and leaned himself forward.

"Well, do you?"

"What the hell?! What kind of question is that?" Suguro formed a wrinkled face.

"You're getting angry, do you feel hot or sweaty anywhere? Do you experience a strong desire to kill someone, possibly bring upon the Apocalypse and burn down Earth in your flames of rage?" Amitiel asked with such calmness on her face, Rin was actually taken aback that she was serious about it.

"Is this some kind of joke?!" Suguro was sure he was going to flare up any second now.

"Hmm, perhaps I was wrong about you..." Amitiel muttered to herself. She shot Suguro an apathetic stare and turned towards Shima. Shima felt a little nervous at what ridiculous question she might ask.

"Do you always experience an uncontrollable sexual desire towards a woman or even a man? Do you tend to arouse someone without even trying?" Amitiel questioned the slightly shocked pink head.

"Eh, pardon me?"

"You're constantly flirting with other women, are you sure you do not plan to kill them once you've attained sexual satisfaction from them?" Amitiel narrowed her eyes.

"Um... no," Shima replied nervously and swalloed down a lump. Amitiel breathed out when she realized he was telling the truth.

"Are you sure you aren't an incubus?" Amitiel asked him again.

"Well, I used to be called the 'Erotic Demon', is that what you'd like to know?" Shima formed a perverted smile and winked at the angel.

Amitiel maintained an uninterested, bored stare. "Nope, you're not the one I wanted," Amitiel concluded.

"Wait! I can come up with a better pick-up line, I swear!" Shima pleaded.

Finally, Rin tensed up when she turned towards him. Her apathetic look caused him to shiver.

"—I'm good at cooking, that's all," Rin blurted out loud before she could ask him another crazy question.

Amitiel raised an eyebrow. That was true, but still. "Then you must love playing with fire, right? Do you enjoy setting things on fire, especially humans? Possibly a whole group of humans maybe 15 years ago?"

Konekomaru almost lost it for a second when she was implying about the Blue Night.

"What? I ain't a friggin' pyromaniac, if that's what you're assuming!" Rin obviously didn't quite recognize what she was referring to.

Amitiel exhaled as she said, "thanks for your honesty."

The boys exchanged glances with Amitiel and each other as she turned back and returned to her desk.

Amitiel sat back down and rested her head on her arms. She had never felt so lost and stuck as this. Even though she asked, she felt she wasn't getting any valuable sources to his identity. No matter what she did, she probably isn't even close to finding him. She must finish this before it's too late, the world is in danger as he lives. Just where the hell was he?

Nevertheless, she knew exactly what she must do. She must eliminate that sword.

* * *

The students all stared in awe at the sight of a large, chalk circle composed of many complex glyphs and symbols surrounding the border of the circle on the floor. In the centre of the circle was the inverted star pentagram.

"We will now summon demons," Mr. Neuhaus, their Magic-Circles-and-Seals teacher, announced after he lifted the tip of his large, man-sized compass off the complete design of the circle.

This exorcist was obviously a tamer. The students could tell by the strange summoning markings etched in the skin of the teacher's arms. What was quite odd was the fact that he was wearing an eye patch on his left eye. His one eye seemed tired and droopy, which reminded Amitiel about Raziel — since he was also always tired. The teacher's forehead was also covered by dark brown, messy layered hair, and had large cheek lines curving up from the corner of his mouth to his nostrils, even without smiling. His build was lean, but he was surely shorter than Raziel, perhaps the same height as Yukio.

"Do not step on the diagram," the teacher warned when Rin stepped forward in curiosity, "breaking the circle will render it ineffective."

Rin took a slow, cautious step back.

Amitiel stood still as stone. How ironic is it for a demon to be summoned by an angel, and obey an angel? That was obviously the most irrational thought someone could ever come up with in their head. The last thing Amitiel ever wanted to do was summon a demon. Angels and demons have great hostility towards each other, and this hostility had lasted for many centuries. She was certainly confident the demon can easily kill her since Raziel wasn't around, and she felt quite lonely about his absence. The angel moved her hand and glided it towards her blade under her skirt, preparing for whatever trouble might come.

Luckily, she stood behind the group, which made her feel a little more secure. She never intended on trying to summon a demon, and on the side note, she certainly did not want to become a tamer anyways.

"Summoning a demon requires the appropriate amount of blood and the correct invocation," the teacher spoke as he unwrapped his hand swathed in an old, blood-stained bandage. "The more blood you use, the stronger your summon, and the more likely you are going to summon a stronger demon." He held his hand above the circle and droplets of deep-red blood plopped onto the circle from the wounds on his palm.

Everyone stared in trepidation as the teacher chanted, "_Son of Typhon and Echidna, hear my call. Come forth_!"

As he finished chanting, smoke began to swirl around the circle. Amitiel's body tensed as a black, clawed hand emerged out of the area within the circle. The students all stared in awe as the demon fully emerged. Its body was that of a human's, but its spine arched down and the demon stood on its hands and feet. Its body was covered in scars and many lines of stitches of different lengths ran across its thin, mouse-coloured skin. Blood and infection oozed out of the stitched wounds. The demon itself was composed of different limbs that were poorly stitched on.

"Few of those are capable of summoning a demon to be their familiar," Neuhaus continued, "in order to succeed, you must require a strong, incorruptible spirit... as well as inbred ability!"

"Ew! It reeks of sulphur!" Shima exclaimed as he plugged his nose.

The students commented at Mr. Neuhaus's demonstration, except for Amitiel, she only stared at the demon with the most hostile but bland look.

"Now, if you believe you have this ability, use the papers with magic circles I handed out earlier." Mr. Neuhaus shot a quick, suspicious glance at Rin. "Prick your finger and chant whatever comes to mind."

Rin caught that glance and raised an eyebrow. He could tell it was a quite a suspicious glance. It seemed that anger flashed in his eyes, as if he knew something different about Rin. Rin felt an uncomfortable feeling in his gut, an indication informing him that that teacher may have hidden intentions, and they may not be very good ones.

Amitiel laid her eyes on Izumo, as she was first to make the move. She could sense clear potential in her, as if her blood was meant to be shed for summoning demons. Izumo pricked her finger and dabbed her blood onto both papers in her hands as she closed her eyes and spoke an incantation. She waved her papers in the air and chanted, "_Inari, I humbly beseech thee...to grant my request!_" After Izumo finished, a swirling, cloudy white mass emanated from the papers. Out of the white clouds swirling in the air above the summoner's head, two white foxes formed. The foxes landed delicately onto the tiled floor beside their master.

Rin was easily impressed by the girl's successful summoning. Amitiel was deeply impressed at her very first try. She showed no sign of anxiety, it was as if it was second-nature to her.

"Whoa! Cool! What are those?!" Rin asked curiously.

"Two white foxes: _Byakku_. Well done, Kamiki-san," Neuhaus praised the purple-haired teen.

Izumo's friend looked aside at her best friend, open-mouthed. "Wow! Amazing! I didn't even get anything..." Paku looked at her paper in hopelessness, along with Suguro and his pals.

Izumo raised her chin up in superiority and raw pride, "of course, I have the blood of shrine maidens in me!"

"Just because you're a descendant of shrine maidens doesn't make you more special than us," Amitiel jumped in with an unimpressed glance.

"Being the daughter of an exorcist doesn't make you more special either," Izumo parroted back with arms crossed.

"Most people aren't shrine maidens. Unlike you, Neuhaus-sensei isn't one and he did a much more fantastic job than you," Amitiel said calmly, but it felt as if she was giving some sort of compliment instead.

_W... whoa! That was very blunt!_ Rin's eyes widened.

"Excuse me? Say again? Since when did I ask for your lame opinion?" Izumo frowned, insulted by her remark.

"I should let you know that I don't care that you're related to witches," Amitiel spat. "You basically give your body over to demons."

What Amitiel said turned Izumo crimson from anger. Something about what she said really touched Izumo.

Rin looked aside and gave Amitiel an indignant glare, "Hana..."

"What did I do?" Amitiel asked as if she did nothing wrong.

"Just shut up, and let it go," Rin murmured to her in sincerity.

"What? I'm just saying the truth," Amitiel said then stared down at Izumo, who balled up her fists and clenched her teeth. Rin sighed.

"Well, clearly you don't know what you're talking about..." Izumo's head bowed down and her straight, purple bangs shielded her flaring gaze. "What makes you think you know more about _my_ family history?"

Amitiel stayed silent with monotone eyes.

Izumo swallowed down her anger then snorted, "Well, if you think you're so superior to us, I'd like to see you summon one, c'mon, try me." Izumo placed her hands on her hips and lifted her chin up in superiority.

_She thinks she has more authority just because her father's an exorcist..._ Izumo thought with a snarl.

Rin looked aside at Amitiel, she only stared at Izumo without a sign of panic, or anything that might indicate that she may accept or not. The angel glanced aside to Neuhaus' familiar, which stood just as still as her, then redirected her attention back to an impatient Izumo.

"I would..." Amitiel trailed off, which made Izumo's chest leap with anticipation. "...but I can't. I choose not to achieve the Tamer Meister. I wouldn't want a demon to do my bidding," Amitiel finally said, which caused Izumo to frown again.

"I'm sure you have the same talent as Kamiki-san," Neuhaus said, who was trying to encourage the angel to participate, also to break the argument. "Taming isn't the same thing as slavery, if that's what you think."

"No, that's not my technique in a battle," Amitiel replied immediately, as she narrowed her eyes suspiciously at Neuhaus. "I would rather kill a demon than make it my ally. Why in hell would I make friends with blood-thirsty monsters?" Amitiel's tone was calm, but the students could tell she was responding in a menacing way. Neuhaus frowned at her severely, disrespected by the look in her eyes. But, aside from disrespect, Neuhaus actually felt a little threatened, personally.

Amitiel's words caused Rin's heart to leap, as if it was some sort of personal attack.

"L-Let me try!" Shiemi cried out suddenly.

"Yes, you should. Summon something far more formidable than two 'lame' foxes," Amitiel commented, loud enough for Izumo to hear.

Izumo breathed heavily as her composure was being strained by Amitiel's incessant remarks. Paku stood near and hesitated to reach out to Izumo. She drew her hand out but pulled it away.

_Woman, how dare you mock us?_ One of the foxes growled.

Amitiel turned her head slowly towards the speaker, then suddenly the fox took a step back and growled murderously at Amitiel. The other fox realized something about her then growled too. Izumo looked at Amitiel in suspicion, wondering how she could provoke her familiars by a glance.

Shiemi interrupted the argument when she held the paper in her hands with confidence. Without an idea of a specific chant, Shiemi chanted whatever came out of her mouth. "Come here, come here... or something!" Shiemi giggled.

No demon emerged from the paper, except for silence.

Shiemi's excitement began to deteriorate as the seconds of no success passed by. Suddenly, in a puff of green smoke that formed above the paper, a small green imp burst out of the mass of green. Shiemi merely stared in shock and surprise as the tiny, leafy demon glided down delicately onto the paper and landed light as a feather. It raised its paw in salutation, "Nee!"

Shiemi wasn't sure if she should react by releasing the paper and drop it onto the floor, but she stood agape at her unexpected success until she was able of letting out a few words, "H-hi there...!"

The demon leaped onto the girl's shoulder. Shiemi felt a little frightened at its sudden action but the demon had no intention of harming her, it clung onto her blond hair; weighing no less than a feather. Moreover, it was so tiny and benign it didn't display the side of a savage monster.

"A baby green-man. Excellent work, Moriyama-san," Neuhaus said in approbation.

Shiemi giggled as the demon played around in her hair, suddenly, Shiemi smiled._ This is my chance to talk to Kamiki-san!_ Shiemi showed her familiar in her hands as she called, "Kamiki-san! I-I summoned my familiar too!"

Izumo frowned intensely, then spoke with a fake smirk, "oh _cool_! It's so cute and tiny like a little bean!" Izumo exclaimed sarcastically.

Instead, Shiemi's face was flushed red as she bowed her head down in gratitude, "cool? C-cute?!" Shiemi was overwhelmed with happiness and honour. "Thank you, Kamiki-san!"

Rin's face distorted into a frown when he realized Shiemi didn't exactly catch Izumo's sarcasm. Amitiel, on her part, only thought about strangling that green thing and those foxes no matter how cute or benevolent-looking they may seem.

"Well, if even she can summon one, you must be a coward to not even try!" Izumo shouted at Amitiel with an arrogant smile.

Amitiel noticed Izumo was referring to her and replied without thinking. Amitiel narrowed her eyes and looked aside sharply at Izumo, "tamers are for the weak, I would rather be a part of the fight—in the action, than watch my familiar do it for me." Izumo's lip twitched up and she grit her teeth at the angel's crude response, Amitiel replied calmly instead, "to tell you the truth, I'm not a coward nor a bystander like you, Izumo."

Now Izumo couldn't hold back her boiling anger any longer. She took a step forward and was about to shout something sinister when she felt a soft, warm hand curl around her shoulder. This soft hand stopped Izumo immediately. Izumo spun her head around and met dark purple eyes—Paku's soft eyes. Izumo suddenly calmed down, her fiery red gaze cooled down until she wasn't furrowing her eyebrows anymore. Izumo looked down, feeling compunctious as her best friend's concerned gaze told her she had gone too far.

Amitiel didn't understand why Izumo suddenly dropped the arrogance the moment Paku rested her hand on her shoulder. She felt some sort of psychological bond between them; a kinship between two unrelated strangers. They weren't sisters, but why would they seem so close as if related by blood? In Amitiel's world, all angels are known as brothers and sisters. Everyone knew each other and lived together as a family. This human relationship between two strangers confused Amitiel, perhaps it was a social thing in their culture.

Soon the argument had stopped when Neuhaus added, "it looks like we have quite a few tamer candidates this year. Tamers are highly valued by the Order since they are so rare. Again, it requires a strong spirit to handle demons, therefore, demons never obey a master weaker than themselves. If you are in a situation where you feel threatened by your Familiars, disrupting the circle will break the contract and send the demons to their dimension." Neuhaus placed his foot on the circle on the ground and slid it across, smudging the chalk. The Naberius vanished out of thin air with a gust of wind.

After Neuhaus concluded his demonstration, the bell rang.

"This concludes the lesson, class dismissed."

* * *

Shiemi stepped out of the class, upon entering the grand hall, she looked aside and found Izumo and Paku strolling away. Shiemi followed Izumo and Paku. She ran up towards Izumo as she shouted, "h-hey! Kamiki-san, wait!"

Paku was first to catch her call and glanced back. "Izumo-chan, she's calling for you," she spoke softly.

Izumo's nose wrinkled. "Ugh, just ignore her. She's so annoying," Izumo said in disgust as she continued to walk without stopping.

"Oi!" Shiemi called again. "Oi! Oi! Oi!" Shiemi repeated over and over, and each time only caused Izumo to cringe in annoyance.

"OI—!"

Izumo slammed her foot on the floor and spun around. "—Quit following me, will you?! Don't get all friendly with me just 'cause you summoned a familiar!" Izumo shouted in utter frustration.

Shiemi held her clenched hands close to her beating heart. Her cheeks began to flush again when Shiemi finally decided to summon all the courage she could get_. Today... I will say it...!_ Shiemi pushed herself way over her comfort zone, but she has to do it. She must make a friend. It has been too long since she spoke to people other than her mother and Yukio. But what would Izumo say? Shiemi was shivering so much she actually felt sick to her stomach. A part of her wanted to run away, flee from this place, but she was trying to hold back that tempting part of herself. What Shiemi feared most is Izumo's response. Would she accept it? Deny it? Shiemi would think of herself as a complete, useless failure if she couldn't make a single friend. With her grandma gone—her one, true friend—she knew she must move on.

"P-p-please!" Shiemi pleaded desperately. "B-be my f-friend!"

As soon as those words reached Izumo's ears, the annoyed look in her ruby eyes softened and her eyes displayed confusion. "What?" Izumo responded, open-mouthed. Shiemi deeply regretted saying what she had said.

"I-I've..." Shiemi stuttered. "...never had friends..."

Izumo looked at Shiemi with a neutral look, almost with a bit of empathy. Shiemi's green eyes glistened with tears, and she suddenly threw her head down to avoid the girls from seeing her cry. Izumo closed her eyes and took a moment to digest what the blonde had said. Izumo opened her eyes, which were bright and a smile spread across her face, "alright."

Shiemi's eyes snapped open and she gasped a little.

"From now on, we're friends!" Izumo exclaimed.

Shiemi looked back up at Izumo, who's face had a friendly smile. "huh?!" Shiemi was suddenly washed over with relief and utter euphoria. "O-oh, my first... My first friend!" Shiemi exclaimed gleefully to herself as she placed her hands on her cheeks, which were blushing a deep rose red. She did it. It happened, it really happened. All that anxiety simply melted off of Shiemi's mind.

"Here," Izumo said as she handed her new friend her school bag.

"Huh?" Shiemi said as she held the leather bag.

"Do you mind holding this for me? I'm not as strong so my arms get tired easily. You be a good friend and carry that, will you? Because friends help each other out, right?" Izumo spoke in sincerity.

_Friends... help each other_, Shiemi smiled sweetly. "Okay! I don't mind!"

Izumo swept her pigtails over her shoulders as she continued to make her way down the hall, with Shiemi on her tail. Paku's eyebrows curved up as she whispered beside Izumo, "Izumo-chan, I don't think you should..." But Paku stopped herself when Izumo cut her off.

"Don't worry, she wants to!" Izumo smiled in self-satisfaction. "Ah, that feels lovely!" Izumo said and she breathed out a sigh of relief, as she allowed her arms to swing freely beside her.

"The hell? Shiemi looks like _Chunky 'Brows'_ servant..." Rin recalled as he observed Shiemi walk past them in the hall, with Izumo's bag in her hands. Surprisingly, she looked quite happy,

"Chunky 'Brows?" Konekomaru asked, quite confused at who Rin was referring to. "You mean Kamiki-san?"

"They're just fooling around..." Suguro added.

* * *

For the rest of the day, his mind couldn't distract himself from Shiemi and her newfound 'friend' Izumo Kamiki. Rin wasn't confident enough that Izumo really took Shiemi's request as sincere words, instead, he couldn't help but think that Izumo may be taking advantage of her. For the rest of the day, he had seen Shiemi follow Izumo around like a lost puppy. All Shiemi ever did was cling to Izumo, following around, taking orders from her without hesitating. What really pissed him off was that Shiemi didn't have the guts to just say no.

She must be that desperate, or just that innocent.

"Well, whatever, I know Shiemi's smart enough to know better..." Rin talked to himself as he made his way to the fountain he, Shiemi, and Yukio always met during lunch. But instead, it was only him at the fountain. Yukio must be too busy to even come out of the class and talk to him, like usual. For an honours student like Yukio, Rin kind of expected to rarely see his twin due to school. Damn school.

Rin jumped onto the fountain, the clear water shot out of the mouths of the gargoyle statues circling the fountain, then dripped quietly into the pool of water around the fountain, which felt cool and humid.

Rin breathed in the cold humid air around the damp fountain and pulled out a box of _bento_ from his school bag. He rested it on his laps, brought his hands together, and said, "_Itadakimasu_."

Rin then grabbed his chopsticks and began eating his food silently, while observing the other students walking past and in front of him. Rin stuffed some food into his right cheek and chewed while people were busy walking with their friends. If only he saw Shiemi walk with Izumo instead of _for_ Izumo, he wouldn't feel so worrisome.

Rin never really had any friends either, if he did make some friends, it would be ruined when he would lay his fist against their jaw. But seeing these people, completely normal and just... proud with friends, really did make him feel out of place. There was also other reasons, involving the fact that he's attending the cram school, which only showed he was part of a small population of people who knows about the existence of demons. That was definitely _not_ normal.

No wonder he never had any friends.

Suddenly, he remembered what he said in front of Shiemi to Suguro. In all honesty, Rin actually did consider her as a friend, but he was just... Confused. Does she see him as a friend? Did she feel hurt when he didn't say so? Rin did regret what he had said.

Rin shook his head and tried to clear it from everything. What he just wants to do is eat his lunch—that's it. Rin tried to force a smile as he crammed his mouth with food.

"No... I haven't found him yet..."

Rin looked around himself when he heard a voice speak. It was feminine, and it sounded close by. Rin suddenly curved his eyebrows down when he looked behind the fountain and spotted a wad of wavy of blond hair peeking out from the side of the fountain.

Rin almost choked on his chewed up food as he quickly turned his head back and pretended he hasn't seen anything. Rin breathed as he tried to act like a sane, normal person and he shoved a large bite of food into his mouth, then chewed slowly while maintaining his attention straight ahead. The fact that he was alone with her, on the same fountain, really made him feel awkward.

"I know you're there, Rin," Amitiel called from across to the other side of the fountain. Rin swallowed his food halfway, then suddenly started to cough hysterically. Amitiel still sat composedly and ate a small piece of food from her _bento_ as Rin was basically dying on the other side with his food stuck in his throat. Rin cleared his throat loudly then swallowed the rest of his food, and he took a breath.

"Y-you scared the living hell out of me!" Rin panted.

"I just told you I knew you were there, what did I do that was so frightening?" Amitiel asked.

Rin wrinkled his nose then straightened himself up. "Uh, you kinda knew I was here without even looking," Rin frowned.

"I heard you eat, that was why I knew. You eat like an animal," Amitiel remarked. Rin did not object. He had to admit he was sort of a loud eater.

"...Oh," Rin said. "I thought you were some psychic or something."

Amitiel didn't answer. She only returned to eating her lunch. After some silence, Rin decided he might as well return to his lunch, but before, he decided to ask,  
"what are you doing here?"

Rin didn't receive a response from the other side. He waited a little longer until he looked back, and he still saw her blond waves, but she was quiet.

Rin suddenly found himself picking up his _bento_ and turned around to walk to the other side of the fountain. Beside Amitiel was an empty _bento_ box, but what confused him was that she had her legs crossed and her eyes were closed, as if she was meditating.

"...why are you sitting near me?" Amitiel asked with eyes still closed when Rin sat down, but not too close.

Rin looked straight at her, then looked away. "I'd be rude if I didn't, besides... you look like a loner. If you want me to leave I—"

"It's okay, I actually don't mind your presence," Amitiel responded while still in her meditating trance.

"What are you doing?" Rin asked suddenly, seeing as she was doing something.

"I'm concentrating for something," Amitiel said.

"Something?" Rin cocked an eyebrow.

"A certain thing" was all Amitiel said.

"Okay, that's pretty vague."

Amitiel opened her eyes slowly, her eyes were so dark and her lids were almost closed it looked as if her whole eye was black. She looked straight up ahead of her, more people in uniforms strolled by.

"... I like to people-watch. That was almost what I was doing," Amitiel said. All she ever did was feeling the souls around her. All of them looked like balls of bright, white light, and she could feel their energy giving off of them, that was how she can sense things from a distance. Human souls were something she considered very beautiful; they were delicate but powerful balls of light that flow within a body. No human soul could ever be destroyed, since energy isn't mass. Unlike humans, angels have different types of souls, except they aren't even souls. Amitiel would basically look like a wisp of light energy, excluding the body she dwelled inside.

She looked at Rin and she saw the same, human glow given from his soul.

"Huh? People-watch?" Rin raised an eyebrow at the sudden change in topic.

"It's... interesting if you actually do it. I see something far more important in people, Rin." Amitiel responded. Sometimes that important part of some humans were quite dark. Those who were considered criminals, or humans that had dark intentions, still produced the same pure, white glow, however, Amitiel could feel a menacing aura emitting off those people.

"Well, I don't do it. And I sure as hell can't see what you're seeing," Rin stuffed a chopstick full of food in his mouth. Amitiel knew Rin couldn't quite understand what she would mean. He was human, after all.

"I always wonder what humans think, what's going on inside their heads. I... I always see the same thing on their faces everywhere they go." Amitiel spoke while observing the students.

Rin swallowed. "Yeah? And what's that?"

"Pain. I always see it, in every one of their eyes... all I see is pain. I always try to see if a human is actually happy, for living here, in Assiah... but I didn't," Amitiel spoke, without a sign of disappointment in her voice, almost as if she expected to see pain in a human's eyes. In all honesty, Amitiel didn't quite understand what pain was at first, but all she knew from Raziel was that it was one of the scariest feelings to a human soul. Pain changes a person entirely, including their soul. Amitiel saw a pattern in everybody's soul, all indicating some form of pain, but she didn't quite know specifically the situation that caused that terrible feeling.

"You're so... eccentric sometimes," Rin frowned intensely at the angel. As soon as Amitiel heard what he said and looked into his eyes, she saw the same pattern in his soul.

"I know you're in pain, too."

"Ha! Your wrong," Rin smirked and waved his hand away.

"You're lying, Rin. I see it in your eyes, everyone suffered some sort of pain, you all have. Why do you deny it? Did it change your life or something?" The dark, hollow look in her eyes forced Rin to shut up and gulp.

Rin's smirk died away and he only looked down, he lowered his chopsticks in his fingers, which had some food in it. Rin swallowed a painful lump in his throat as he remained silent. Amitiel observed him quietly, understanding that he simply just didn't want to talk about it.

Soon Amitiel's gaze wavered to Rin's sword. It was wrapped in an elegant red case with fancy patterns of stencil flowers in metallic gold colour. Aside from the beautiful design of the case, Amitiel felt the darkest aura of power coming directly from that sword, but also the sword's aura itself. Her senses were literally tingling.

"Ah, this is nice to see."

Amitiel and Rin both focused on Yukio, who stood in front of them holding a briefcase in one hand. Rin almost flipped over and fell into the fountain. He jumped off the fountain and pointed his index dangerously a Yukio.

"Damn it! I was waiting for ya! What the hell took you so long?!" Rin yelled.

"Pardon me, Nii-san, it's just paperwork—another exorcism I got from the Director after class," Yukio smiled apologetically.

Rin's face softened, "oh, what's it about?"

"It's confidential, unfortunately." Yukio smiled. "By the way, I'm glad you and Tanaka-san are getting along."

"We...We weren't getting along! We were just... talking, that's all," Rin bit his lip and looked away.

"Well, it's better than quarreling with a knife and fist," Yukio beamed, and Rin and Amitiel exchanged quick glances at each other.

As soon as Yukio sat down beside his twin and pulled out his own lunch, Amitiel got up.

"I guess I'll leave you two be. I must do something, anyways," Amitiel said then turned around to walk away, but turned her head back and added, "you really need to stop lying to yourself, Rin."

Rin gulped and remained silent with food in his mouth, as he watched Amitiel walk away and enter the academy.

* * *

"For the rest of the week until your upcoming exam, I have organized some preparation booklets for you to practice. However, it is your responsibility to know the concepts of biblical references. I will also test you for your competence in Latin for your written part of the exam," Raziel announced as he passed the booklets to Izumo. Izumo accepted them then stood up to pass them around.

Instead, Izumo walked over towards Shiemi. And, with the same, glowing smile on her face, Shiemi watched in anticipation as Izumo approached her.

"Can you pass these out for me?" Izumo asked as she handed the papers to Shiemi.

"Sure thing!" Shiemi replied immediately then stood up and passed around the sheets. Rin gave Izumo a scornful glare, but she merely ignored it and returned to her seat. She almost reminded Rin about Hana. Both of them seem so... Apathetic.

Raziel reached over to a nearby shelf and gathered some old, dusty Bibles that probably haven't been touched for decades. Shiemi ran up towards him to collect them. Rin seriously thought Raziel had grown in height again. Compared to Shiemi, he was a _giant_. Shiemi's tiny, blond head barely passed by the middle of his upper torso—he was just that tall.

Rin actually felt deeply intimidated by Raziel, both in height and by persona.

Shiemi walked over, who had loads of Bibles piled up on her arms like a mountain, and passed one to Rin. Suddenly, Shiemi's grip slipped and the Bible escaped out of Shiemi's hand. She gasped and tried to catch it, only to move so quickly Shiemi lost her balance and all the Bibles in her arms tumbled over and splattered all over the tiled floor. Rin stared in shock, and suddenly Shiemi dropped to her knees and quickly picked up all the Bibles. A deep, colourful red blossomed on her cheeks. Everyone was staring at Shiemi now, awaiting to receive their books. Izumo smiled sinisterly, but only very secretly. Rin, unfortunately, saw that vicious smirk of hers, and he immediately knelt down and joined Shiemi. He piled up the books on his desk.

"R-Rin...! I-I'm so s-sorry!" Shiemi stuttered as she bowed her head down, sinking her head in her shoulders.

"It's fine, Shiemi. I'll help you. That's what _real_ friends do, right?" Rin eyed her with a smirk.

Shiemi remained silent, mostly from a mixture of confusion and shock. Did he just call her a friend?

Shiemi took the rest of the Bibles and passed them to the rest of the students. _Did... did Rin just call me a friend?_ Shiemi's heart jumped. She returned to her seat and laid the last Bible in front of Rin. As soon as Rin saw it—this ancient, holy book—his heart jumped to the point he felt sick to his stomach. Melancholy overwhelmed the teen as the book stood staring at him. He took it and smoothed the cover with his warm, clammy thumbs. The gritty texture left some dust residue on his thumbs, as well as the scent of ancient paper.

Rin stared straight at it, without opening it or even setting it down. Rin had remembered it clearly, that moment in his childhood when his father first read him the Bible. He was at least 5 years old, at least, but he remembered it. It was vivid, and the passage his father had quoted to him and Yukio before bedtime replayed in his mind. Just the mere voice of his, the gentle, wise voice of his father, soothed Rin. It was about angels, Rin was sure of that. His father was quite fond of angels, even though he had never seen one in his lifetime. Rin didn't even think they existed, but his father had faith as strong as his will to believe in the impossible.

Rin's father had told him that angels are protectors of God, who watch over and care for humanity. He even mentioned them being soldiers of God, who, at this very moment, are constantly battling the demons around them, even the ones we have in our hearts.

Well, obviously they're doing a piss-poor job at that. Since Rin could see demons, he clearly hasn't seen any angels battling the demons around him. He didn't see any sign of angels anywhere, so the question is—do they really exist? Nevertheless, that question was easily answered when his father had died a brutal death by Satan.

Amitiel watched as Rin stared at the book, but for some reason, there was pain on his face. His mouth looked almost open like it was about to reveal him grit his teeth. Suddenly, Amitiel heard a smack when Rin closed the book in fury. He crossed his arms and he sneered with a mixture of pain in his eyes.

Suddenly, Rin and Amitiel both snapped out of their mini trances and realized another lesson had already started. This one in this unit was quite interesting since it extended a bit beyond demons.

"... As you may know, the _Archangel Raziel_ is one of the most intelligent angels of Heaven, possessing undiscovered knowledge and secrets of the universe, hence he is commonly referred to as the _Angel of Mysteries_ or _Secrets_. Some secrets of Raziel have been discovered by humanity, yet some remain unknown. Only God can command him to reveal these "secrets" to humankind. One example is the secrets to life through his book titled the _Book of Raziel_, which is what you have read last unit. He gave this book to Adam and Eve after their banishment from the _Garden of Eden_ to teach them the right ways of living so that they may come back to enlightenment—"

"Raziel dropped his own book in the ocean, how is that a sign of great intelligence?" Izumo raised an eyebrow, clearly questioning Raziel's intelligence.

"... Intelligence is achieved through mistakes, do you agree? The book was found again, so this mistake is _not_ to be taken into consideration," Raziel responded sternly, his eyebrow twitched violently as he frowned intensely. "We have all made mistakes."

"Wow, it seemed like it was a personal attack on Tanaka-sensei," Shima remarked.

Raziel cleared his throat. "Now! Continuing on with the lesson..."

* * *

It was hopeless, no matter how hard he stared at it, his brain just didn't want to participate anymore—like usual. It had only been 10 minutes, and already Rin couldn't look at it any longer without getting a headache. Every single time he studied, his mind was always occupied by something else he considered far more important, such as finishing reading his favourite manga, especially after he just bought the newest volume last week. Patience and dedication is something Rin gravely lacked in school. If only he had photographic memory, his life would be so much easier when it comes to studying.

He could never be as hard-working as Yukio, not a chance in hell can he be smarter than anybody.

"Argh, dammit, I don't get this..." Rin sighed in irritation as he dropped his hands holding a book and let it hit the grassy ground. At least school was over for the day. Rin could relax instead of trying.

Rin puffed out some air and he began to shove all his books in his shoulder bag. He was laying under a tree shading a portion of the ground around it with its thick, green leaves. He was in one of the courtyards of True Cross Academy, which was barricaded by tall brick walls. Around the court was paved sidewalks as well as a few benches installed on the grass. There were also some round tables, but they were always taken by the students before Rin could have a chance.

Rin heard the leaves above him rustle vigorously when he felt a sudden gush of wind. Rin felt the papers in his hands rattle from the wind. He held them tight and shoved them directly into his bag.

Suddenly the wind dissipated when a voice called from behind him, "Rin."

Rin whirled around in surprise and shouted, "HOLY SH—!" Rin stopped and his mouth formed an 'o'. His surprised face turned into an unamused frown at the sight of the presence in front of him, "...Oh... It's you."

Amitiel tilted her head aside. Her hair was brought up into a high pony tail, and she was carrying a small academy bag.

"What are you doing?" She observed the books around him.

"I'm trying to do homework, what does it look like?" Rin grabbed a book and opened it. He grabbed a pencil and tried to finish where he left off, even though he hasn't gotten quite far ahead yet.

Amitiel bent down and leaned forward over his shoulder, observing his fingers direct the pencil across the paper. His writing wasn't very ornate, in fact, it was very sloppy to the point she could barely read it. Until—

"... Um, that's wrong," Amitiel suddenly said as she reached over and pointed at something Rin wrote.

"What?" Rin looked aside and jolted since her head was basically close to his.

"It's actually called the the Penta_teuch_, not Penta_tock_, then the Historical Books or the _Nevi'im_, the Wisdom Books or the _Ketuvim_, and the Prophetical Books are the 4 major divisions of the _Old Testament_. The _New Testament_ is composed of the _Gospels_, the A_cts of the Apostles_, the _Epistles_, and then _Revelation_," Amitiel explained fluently. Rin's mouth dropped and he had trouble closing it back up.

Rin was able to speak again,"... wow, for an airhead like you, you sure are smart."

"I've studied it for a century," Amitiel simply put.

Rin chuckled at her exaggeration, "oh yeah, sure."

"I wouldn't lie."

"Yah, sure. But...Why are you helping me?" Rin raised his eyebrow, feeling a little suspicious.

"Consider this as my apology," Amitiel straightened herself up. "I don't really know how to earn your forgiveness but... it's okay if you dislike me. I really don't care."

Rin's eyebrows flew up. He was shocked, the way she simply said it without regret. Instead she mainly accepted his feeling towards her, even if they were harsh.

Rin remained silent, and slowly all his hate for her seemed to wash away. She's the most honest person he had ever met, and it scared him a little, to have the guts to say everything so honestly and truthfully, even if it pains other people.

"I... I-I don't dislike you... I forgive you actually," Rin replied.

Amitiel closed her eyes and bowed her head down in a sign of gratitude, "thank you."

Rin noticed that, despite her blunt honesty, she was actually quite a polite person.

"Mind if I sit?" Amitiel stood beside Rin and awaited for his response before she could sit down on the grass.

"Huh?... Um..." Rin mumbled, mostly because his concentration was between her and the book.

"If you mind, I wouldn't, I'll go somewhere else," Amitiel added.

Rin puffed his cheeks and breathed out a large exhale. "Actually, I don't mind at all. Just... can you help me with this whole Bible stuff?" Rin looked up to her, he looked away when his eyes met her hollow brown ones, he also noticed her pupils were small.

"Not a problem," Amitiel set herself down on the grass. She brought her knees up and rested her arms over them. "Would you like me to go over the lessons you haven't attended?"

"And by that, you would mean all of them," Rin chuckled. Amitiel tried to mimic what he was doing, she knew what he was doing was smiling, but to her it was odd, perhaps because she's never felt that feeling Rin may be experiencing right now.

"Hey... are we actually gonna start a normal conversation?" Rin looked at Amitiel again, this time he bravely stared straight into the large depths of darkness. Amitiel, on her part, noticed how vividly blue his eyes were. It was deep and vibrant, almost like she was staring straight into the deep waters in the sea.

Also like the colour of Satan's flames.

* * *

**A/N: Longest chapter ever /dead**

**Chapters aren't going to be this long, it's just I couldn't figure out a way of separating the content in this chapter into two.**

**Well, since school is starting soon, I might not have as much time as I used to have, so my schedule would be updating every 3 weeks, or even monthly. Sorry if I'm making you suffer for waiting ^_^''**

**On the side note, reviews are always welcome, even favourites and follows, it just shows that people are actually interested in my story! So keep it up! :)**

**Here's my DeviantART account if you wanna check out my art or see how my oc looks like (remove spaces): paige 1444 . deviantart . com**


	9. Chapter 8: Amends—償い

**Disclaimer: Blue Exorcist (****青の祓魔師（エクソシスト****)) belongs to Kazue Kato. This is created for entertainment purposes only, no profit was made. Please support the author by purchasing her books!**

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_**天使火災**__**—**_Angel Fire

_**Chapter 8: Amends—償い**_

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**Sunlight poured down from the long window on the creaking wooden floor in Rin and Yukio's dorm.** It was absolutely silent, except for the sound of covers shuffling and the distant morning cry of the birds outside. Dust floated within the air around the sunlight, which were flying around like tiny Coal Tars. A weak moan was released from Rin's mouth, which sounded muffled since his whole face was buried in his thick pillow. The covers always made their way to the other side of his bed, which were only covering Rin's feet. He always had a ridiculously high body temperature, so he would unconsciously wiggle himself out from the covers. Yukio still didn't understand why his twin just wouldn't sleep without covers. Rin's hands clutched his pillow from underneath it and he let out a long, quiet yawn. Rin swallowed loudly and peeked his eye just above the pillow to gaze aside at the clock sitting on his bedside table. It took a few seconds for his eyes to wake up and focus.

What the time showed provoked Rin to scream as he bolted out of his bed, rushed out of his clothes, and jumped into his uniform. "CRAP! I OVERSLEPT!" Rin still had his white shirt unbuttoned and his tie hung loosely in a loop around his neck. Rin noticed his brother's empty bed across from his bed. The blankets were neatly folded, and even the pillow was positioned without any wrinkles in the fabric. Rin slipped into his black overcoat of his uniform, fixed the folds on the front, and ran to the door. To his dismay, Rin ran his head against the doorway instead. Poor Rin cried out in pain and tumbled over onto the floor. Rin screeched painfully and placed his hands on his head. A pounding sensation pulsated in his head and Rin felt a headache coming. He shook his head to ignore the impending pain and ran out of the dorm as he grabbed his bag from the floor. Rin slammed the door and ran like hell down the stairs, sliding down the railways and scurried into the kitchen for a quick meal. Screw brushing his teeth and his hair.

"YUKIO! WHY THE HELL DIDN'T YOU WAKE ME UP!?" Rin screamed at his brother, who was sitting at the table calmly eating his breakfast.

"I did actually, to be honest, but you tried to kick me," Yukio responded civilly. "So I left you to sleep since you insisted."

"Well, you can at least kick me back!" Rin argued, but stopped. "Oh wait never mind, you might break your leg—"

Rin stopped when he realized someone else was gone. Rin looked around himself and into the kitchen, but it seemed he and his twin were the only ones in the dorm.

"Where's Hana?" Rin called.

What Rin asked raised Yukio's eyebrows. "Oh, you seem quite interested," Yukio teased with a smirk. Rin blushed intensely as he protested, "I ain't interested! I just wanted to know!"

"She left for the cafeteria, she said," Yukio responded.

Rin nodded and stalked into the kitchen and grabbed a box of bento. He bolted out and ran down the hall towards the entrance. Yukio shook his head and chuckled as he ate alone in the silent, abandoned dorm.

Rin cursed when he forgot to grab a snack to eat, but it was too late. Rin had just arrived inside the Academy. He was making his way towards his classes, and thankfully, Rin wasn't quite as late as he expected, but he didn't really have a lot of time left to eat. Rin moaned, he could never survive through class on an empty stomach, nevertheless, he can never survive class anyways. Rin felt his stomach growl like a bear and felt his stomach vibrate. Rin could never ignore his stomach, perhaps because he just loves food in general. He always cooked dinner back at the monastery for his father and brother, so Rin always cooked something as a snack, but since he was no longer there, and he never had the free time to cook—it just seemed impossible.

Rin remembered Mephisto would give him an allowance to pay for his food. It was low, at 10000¥, but it was enough for 5 meals — each month. The food here was so expensive Rin was scared just to touch the food and mess it up. Yukio was put out of the question when it comes to paying for food, unless Rin begged loudly and dropped on his knees while clinging to Yukio, that is. Sometimes Rin cursed at Yukio for having an actual job and money.

Rin stepped into the large expanse called the cafeteria. It was larger than the size of a school gymnasium, except the floors were polished wood, and the tall walls were painted a deep, royal red. The long windows had the majestic white drapes that probably costed more than his own house. Rin could see the bright green trees and clear blue sky through the sparkling clear windows, which were probably washed multiple times a day. Beside the windows there were large, ivory-colored arches stretching up to the ceiling. The morning sunlight peered into the window and casted on the floor. In a row on the ceiling, large, crystal chandeliers hung, which were casting a brilliant gold light that reflected off the crystals towards the ground. There were many rows of long tables arranged on both ends of the cafeteria, with many vending machines holding plates of food in the middle.

Rin walked over to one of the machines. He approached one and noticed a familiar head of wavy blond hair. Hana. Rin walked over closer towards her, his hands were in his pockets and he could tell Hana was reaching into her own pockets in her pastel yellow overcoat.

"Hey!" Rin exclaimed.

"Oh... Rin," Amitiel didn't turn back to him.

"Um, do you need help?" Rin raised an eyebrow as he peeked over her shoulder.

"No. I seem to be low on money," Amitiel replied as she tried to count some coins she had in her pockets. Rin looked down when he heard Amitiel's stomach growl, suddenly his joined in.

Although she wasn't well-liked by Rin, the fact that he almost didn't want to help her made him feel like a cruel person. It would be cruel of him if he took away the essential need to eat. His father always made him appreciate the good food he receives and to help those spend the day satisfied, even if it means pouring in some yen.

"Um, here. Use this," Rin said and pulled out a bill from his pocket.

"That's your money, Rin. I don't need it. I can go somewhere else," Amitiel looked aside with a serious look.

"No, here. I mean it. I wouldn't just give it for nothing," Rin gestured the bill in her face. Amitiel turned around and reluctantly accepted his offering. "Consider it as my apology."

Amitiel stared back at him, then looked down at the bill in her hand. "No, I've been disrespectful. I do not deserve this." Amitiel moved her hand with the money back towards its owner.

Rin stopped her hand, "I'm serious. I shouldn't have grabbed you like that."

Amitiel sighed and withdrew her hand towards her. She couldn't quite make out what to say next, she never expected this kid to apologize. Rin deeply puzzled Amitiel, how can a foul-mouthed, immature being also become an apologetic, respectful individual?

Amitiel looked at it tentatively and bowed, "thank you."

Amitiel placed the bill in the machine's socket and pressed a button. The vending machine's door clicked open, and Amitiel was able to open the door and grabbed a plate of fluffy, buttermilk pancakes with fruit drizzled in maple syrup imported from Canada.

"Hey, I wanted the same thing!" Rin exclaimed, feeling a little regretful for giving her his money.

"Really? Here." Amitiel passed the tray over.

"No, keep it." Rin placed his palms up.

How about we... Amitiel thought. "Share?" It took a moment for Amitiel to realize she finished her sentence out loud.

"Huh?"

"I-I mean... We can share—if you like." Amitiel furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

"U-uh... sure!" Rin raised his shoulders with a blush running across his cheeks. Honestly, of all people, Hana was the very last person on his mind that would have a heart to share something with him — or did she have a heart to start with? What she said actually startled him speechless.

Amitiel and Rin followed each other towards the end of an empty table. They sat across each other, without another word coming out of their mouthes. Amitiel silently cut a small piece of pancake with her fork and placed it in her mouth. Rin, still hesitant, stared at the succulent, fluffy pancakes in front of him. Despite their tempting smell, Rin felt a little deceived. Is this some way to trick him or something? No matter what, Rin felt suspicious of her.

"Eat," Amitiel commanded. "Okay," Rin said. Rin swallowed hard and picked up the fork, cut out a piece of pancake, and ate it. Rin's mouth filled with saliva and syrup and he closed his eyes, savouring the sweet taste of buttermilk, strawberries, and sugary syrup swirling in his mouth.

Rin felt heat running up the surface of his cheeks after he shoved several bites in his mouth, realizing he might look like a moron who hasn't eaten in days. However, he saw her face remained untouched from the same pink blush, or from any disgust in his table manners. There weren't any signs of emotion.

At least he didn't have to worry about being judged by her. Just the thought about that made Rin feel relieved. _Really relieved_. Rin wondered how she would see him when he reveals his deepest, darkest secret. Suddenly because of the thought, Rin started to think of something else, and was about to say something but kept his mouth shut. He had to remember that this girl in front of him, eating the same pancakes on the same plate, was the daughter of a high-ranking exorcist, and for some reason, he felt a sharp chill run across his arms and body, raising his hairs to the tip. Rin lowered his head and decided to avoid eye contact.

After a short moment of eating in silence, Amitiel and Rin returned the tray to the cafeteria and they walked back towards their classes. By the time they arrived to class, the bell rang.

* * *

After regular classes, the cram school students attended their exorcism classes. In Religious Education, the instructor reviewed the types of religion that existed across the globe, as well as discuss the branches of religion that have evolved over centuries. All this was brand new knowledge to Rin since he hasn't paid attention during the lessons in the past. Everyone seemed to understand it clearly, except for Rin. Amitiel had to explain the concepts to Rin, who only nodded his head and pretended that he understood everything.

"Rin, it's religion," Amitiel sighed. "We're not studying some undiscovered phenomenon here," Amitiel had said after reviews. She was sitting beside Rin now. He had invited her over so many times for help that she decided to change her seating arrangement and sit beside Rin. Shiemi was on his other side.

Rin sighed intensely and rested his head on his desk, "it sure seems like it."

Amitiel noticed Rin wasn't quite the studious type, the more she knew the twins, the more she could see how much their personalities contrasted from each other. Unlike Yukio, Rin wasn't the brightest student in the school. He just seemed so unmotivated by it, but why?

One reason for his attention deficit problem in class was the fact that he was so distracted by Shiemi's situation. Izumo continued to throw more errands around her, forcing her to run across the school and back just to get her fruit milk or some supplies for class. What really bothered Rin was Shiemi was willingly obeying her without hesitation, despite Paku insisted she can disagree.

"What the hell? Is she serious?" Rin said as he carefully observed Shiemi obey Izumo like her personal servant. It was during their small class break that Rin looked at Amitiel with expectation, who was standing beside his desk while Izumo bossed Shiemi around.

"...What?" Amitiel said, realizing his eyes were on her.

"Don't you think Shiemi's blind?"

"No, I'm sure she has perfect vision." Amitiel furrowed her eyebrows at Rin's odd question. Rin tried to digest her literal response.

"I'm talking about how Chunky-Brows treats her. She hasn't even noticed it yet," Rin grumbled with an annoyed frown upon his face. He rested his head on his crossed arms on the desk.

"...What do you want me to do?" Amitiel noticed he was implying something. Rin bit his lip and felt a sinking feeling in his chest.

"Are you serious?" Rin looked back at Amitiel. "Who's more stupid? You or me?"

"What did I do?" Amitiel crossed her arms firmly.

"Stop her or something!" Rin commanded. If she's as blunt and honest as she acts, she wouldn't hesitate to speak up according to him.

Amitiel sighed and turned her attention towards Izumo across the room. Amitiel raised her voice while maintaining a civil tone, "Kamiki-san, stop treating Moriyama-san like your human slave. She has rights and freedoms." Amitiel shouted across the room with so much seriousness Rin and the Kyoto trio all covered their mouths. She spoke as if she was having a normal conversation in the most erratic way possible.

Shiemi lifted her head up when she heard her name was called, "yes?"

"Ugh, she's so vexatious..." Izumo muttered under her breath in utter annoyance. She began to dislike Hana just as much as Shiemi. Rin face palmed.

* * *

After school, Rin was planning on hanging out with Shiemi, but she insisted she must help her new "friend". Of course, Rin couldn't object. He could never hurt Shiemi with the truth about Izumo's true intentions, but at the same time — would it hurt worse if he kept his mouth shut? At this moment, Rin didn't know anything else to do, he only hoped Shiemi could have some sense in her and recognize Izumo's deceitful friendship with her.

Apparently, the Kyoto trio and Hana were having a study session in the library. School had ended and the pages had finished their exorcism classes, so Rin didn't quite know how to spend the rest of the night, especially when Yukio was out for another exorcism case. Rin always begged Yukio to take him to one of his missions, but according to the Order, it was forbidden for an amateur like Rin to attend a real exorcism. Rin believed he went through enough hell already, he wasn't as weak as they think.

Since Rin couldn't accompany Yukio, Rin urged himself to join up with the Kyoto trio and Hana. What else is there to do?

Rin made his way down a hall. It was one of the grand halls, which were basically walls of long, clear windows with chandeliers trailing on the ceiling across the hallway. Through these windows, the whole cityscape of Tokyo could be seen. The sky was a deep, royal blue empty from clouds, and the lights from the buildings illuminated into the dark night sky. Despite its still look, the city was thriving with life.

Rin looked aside to the row of doors on the walls of the grand hall and observed them, until he recognized one of the doors and stood in front of a set of double doors. The doors were made of polished, golden wood, carved delicately into an intricate design on the surface. Rin opened the doors and stepped inside into the library. The flooring was red velvet carpet, which looked bright and new despite its possible age. The walls were filled by towers of dark wooden shelves filled with books. There were even grand, winding stairs leading up towards the second floor, with another leading to the third floor. The steps were polished stone, and Rin was actually cautious about laying a scratch to the precious stone. Rin gazed around at the marvellous sighting. He was so astounded he actually made a loud, awe-inspired 'wow', and the librarian shushed him nearby.

Rin bit at his cheeks in his mouth, scanning the quiet library for the study session taking place. Rin made out a small group sitting at a lounge station, below the second floor with stairs leading down beside the lounge. Suguro, Shima, Konekomaru, and Hana were quietly resting on the soft, leather couches. A wall had a fireplace. The wood glowed as flames licked the surface of the bark. There was even a painting of _Johann Faust V_ hanging up above the fireplace. Hana's legs were folded on top of each other and she held a book in her hands. Her hair was wound up into a loose pony tail. Suguro had a clip in his hair, which was pinning back his large golden locks away from his rough gaze on the book in his hands. Shima, surprisingly, was also reading a book, but he seemed to have a twisted grin on his face as if he was reading something entertaining.

Konekomaru was first to notice Rin's appearance.

"Oh, Okumura-kun!" Konekomaru's eyes lit up. "Would you care to join us?"

Suguro's concentration wavered from his book to Rin's bored stare. He grit his teeth and snarled, "what the hell are you doing here? Can't you see I actually care about my life?!"

"Hey! You don't _have_ to be smart in order to be rich, okay?!" Rin protested.

"This isn't about wealth, dumbass," Suguro sneered viciously. "This is about _survival_."

"Well, that's—"Rin couldn't go on. It was so true what Suguro said.

"Bon's quite right, I mean, you can at least try to study, Okumura-kun,"Konekomaru suggested as he pointed at a stack of books on the glass coffee table in the centre of the lounge.

Shima jumped in. "Right on, Koneko! You should try it sometime!"

"Yah, over my dead body," Rin snorted.

"Want me to make that happen?" Suguro raised a thick eyebrow.

"Sit down now."

Rin shuddered when Hana spoke at last. Her command forced him to drop onto the long leather couch Shima was on. Rin rested his body against the couch and replied with hands raised up, "okay, okay! I'm down."

"Here, do you know what this is called?" Suguro tossed a book at Rin, and he caught it just in time before it smacked his face. It took a moment for Rin to realize it was a children's book about Noah's Ark.

"Shut up! I ain't _that_ stupid!" Rin screamed, and the librarian shushed him again. Rin's cry echoed across the empty, quiet library.

"You sure?" Suguro jeered.

"Y'know what, give that thing to me! I'll show ya!" Rin snatched Suguro's book, and continued where he left off.

"From the beginning there were two types of fol...follo-follership. Folwership. Folloswership?" Rin doubled his concentration by squinting his eyes. "What the hell? It's like I'm freakin' reading Latin here!"

"It's pronounced "followership"," Ryuji corrected.

"Okay, I got this," Rin read over some lines, he still had 200 pages left to go. Rin's thought process seemed to be slower than a snail, he read the lines so slowly and poorly Suguro tried to repress his anger. Just listening to Rin read would make Suguro's ears bleed. Rin stopped when he heard a forced chuckle nearby. Everyone had their attention on Shima now, who was staring at the book with so much amusement, it bothered Suguro.

"Hey, this stuff ain't _that_ amusing!" Suguro commented. "Exorcism isn't funny, it's serious!"

Shima's stomach flipped and he stopped, "sorry! Sorry! I was studying!"

"Oh really? Studying what?" Asked Ryuji.

"Oh... It's nothing," Shima chuckled.

"What the hell are you reading!?" Suguro stalked across the little study group and ripped the book out of Shima's grip. Suddenly, a magazine fell out of the pages. It glided in the air and landed face-up on the red carpet.

Shima smiled sheepishly, "oops."

Suguro picked it up and the picture of a big-breasted model in an exotic, revealing police costume implied exactly what he thought Shima was reading.

"What the hell are you doing looking at porn—in a HOLY PLACE?!" Suguro held the magazine towards Shima and the others stared at him as if he went mental.

"What?" Shima questioned innocently. "I was studying... Very intensely."

Suguro threw the magazine at Shima. "Control your testerone levels, goddammit!"

"What, I'm sure Hana-san won't mind, eh?" Shima winked at Amitiel.

Amitiel's reaction was bland but deadly. Her eyes laid a fierce glare directly on Shima, and suddenly he recoiled as he realized he may have angered a demon. Rin shivered at how monotone her look was, but it felt so menacing.

"T-that was scarier t-than a demon..." Shima smiled nervously.

"Well, I guess that wraps things up." Suguro stood up and cracked his fingers while raising them in the air, stretching his body.

"Wow, I worked my ass off today," Rin added sarcastically. "That's enough for the year."

"No, you didn't," Amitiel added sharply without catching Rin's sarcasm. "You barely even read a sentence."

Rin chuckled dryly, "I was kidding."

Rin waited while the group gathered their belongings, returned some books to the librarian, and made their way to the grand hall. They left the library and made their way back towards the main hall, which was quiet with the buzzing sound of electricity from the lighting. The sky was dark and black, however, the halls looked golden with their chandeliers and wall lights casting a golden yellow glow around them. Once the group stopped down the main hall, it was time for the Kyoto trio to part ways from Rin and Amitiel. Rin waved at the trio and they walked down another hall leading towards their dorms.

"See ya, Bon!" Rin waved with a smile.

Suguro couldn't help but chuckle without looking back at Rin's idiotic smile, "see ya, dumbass."

After the trio was out of sight, Rin felt a fuzzy feeling in his stomach. He was alone, again, with Hana. Amitiel huffed and spun around towards the hall that would lead her towards her dorm. It took a moment for Rin to realize she was no longer beside him before he could ask something.

"Huh? Hey!" Rin shouted and charged up beside her. "Slow down, were going in the same direction, aren't we?"

"I would like to get some rest," Amitiel said simply. "On your part, you should really start studying."

Rin exhaled in exasperation. Suddenly an idea popped in his head, but he was afraid to say it. He was afraid how she might respond.

"Well," Rin started, "Since Suguro will kill me before I could even start, I wanna ask if you could..." Rin paused a moment as he tensed up. "... Study with me?"

"What?" Amitiel stopped walking.

Rin jerked back, as if she was about to murder him on the spot with her blade. "I-I don't know what to do! I-I can never convince myself to sit on a goddamn desk and look at books!" Rin covered his face with his hands in an act of defense.

"You are so unmotivated, aren't you?" Amitiel responded. "How can you be an exorcist if you lack the discipline?"

"Believe me, nothing motivates me more than becoming an exorcist. It's... I need to be one. It's just—" Rin stopped himself and looked away. He didn't want to explain to her his own reasons of becoming an exorcist—she may not even care from the start, in fact, no one would want to hear his story. It involved death. Lots of death.

"P-please study with me, you seem smart so..." Rin trailed away. Rin looked around himself unsteadily. He glanced over at the windows covering the walls, and then at the polished stone flooring, radiating the gold light from the chandeliers above him.

It took a moment for Amitiel to respond after much thought. She began to believe this boy really did have the motivation to be an exorcist, something about the way he looked at her signalled fear in his eyes. Could something have happened to him which forced him to want to become an exorcist? He seemed to want it so badly.

"Well, you'll have to commit yourself to actually study, but if you want to... I'm fine with it," Amitiel finally responded.

Rin's eyes lit up like stars in the blue night sky. "Really?" Rin gasped, overcome by happiness. "Thank you so much! I don't think I can commit myself to this but... As long as you help me, I should survive this." Rin nodded to himself and scratched the back of his head with an awkward smirk.

"Okay," Amitiel simply said.

"Okay, um... How about my dorm? It's quiet there so..." Rin trailed away again. He swore he was going to slap himself if he kept on doing that.

"—and I also live in the same building," Amitiel finished.

"R-right!" Rin formed a goofy smile. "So... I'll meet you tomorrow at 6:00pm, alright?"

Amitiel and Rin both walked towards their dorms, without another word spoken. To Rin, he seemed uneasy about the awkward silence, but to Amitiel, she hoped things could stay quiet for the rest of the night. Everything was quiet until a voice spoke out loud in her head.

_Amitiel, have you investigated around the academy today?_ The voice spoke. Amitiel easily recognized that deep, manly voice.

_Yes, I have. As usual, I haven't found him just yet, Raziel._ Amitiel responded mentally.

_Perhaps not enough. I advise you do not get yourself wound up in the students' affairs, that is a big distraction; you are not here to befriend anyone._ Raziel spoke firmly.

Amitiel looked straight back in the hall, and there stood Raziel beside one of the long windows, the moonlight shone onto his pale skin, and the golden light from the ceiling chandeliers coloured his dark brown hair with strands of dark gold. His vivid green eyes laid fixed on Amitiel.

"I'm still working at the mission," Amitiel responded while her gaze still looked back. Amitiel realized she had said it out loud.

"Huh? The hell are you talking to?" Rin stopped and looked at Amitiel in suspicion. Amitiel shook her head and walked forward, ignoring the blue-haired teen. Rin tried to trail his gaze back to where she was looking behind her, only to find the hall abandoned and empty. Rin's head filled with questions suddenly.

What mission was she talking about?

* * *

He was merely staring behind as they walked forward down the lonely, golden hallway. He had never expected her to even interact with the amateur exorcists. He had expected her to completely obey his command and never snoop around socializing with them. He began to feel uneasy.

Raziel checked the metal watch on his wrist. It was nearly nine at night, what was Amitiel possibly doing with this boy at this time? She may have searched the Academy as asked, and despite she was the _Angel of Truth_—the only being who cannot lie—he felt he was being lied to. Raziel observed her carefully during his classes, and she didn't seem to ask much to be excused for the restroom and use that bit of freedom to her advantage and search around.

"I hope you do not fail, Amitiel," Raziel muttered in a low whisper. Suddenly, Raziel felt something. A presence. It seemed to have called him, and it was from the one being he least respected. Raziel frowned intensely as he flashed himself straight towards the aura of the bearer. In a flash second, Raziel was atop a building, a dormitory perhaps, overlooking the city's glittering landscape. It was nearly dark on top of the building, and within that mass of darkness stood a figure beside Raziel. The figure fixed his top hat with his gloved fingers after the huge gush of wind subsided.

"You are late." The figure was visible enough to be identified as Samael, the King of Time.

Raziel didn't make eye contact as he gazed at the city. "I had my reasons."

"Spying on my students, perhaps?" Mephisto smirked.

"Of course I am." Raziel crossed his arms. "I must keep a sharp eye on those pages, especially for my daughter."

"I know she isn't your daughter," Mephisto responded and tsked at him. "Why do you call her that? She knows you two aren't quite related, she probably doesn't even care about her own family."

Raziel remained silent. "I do not care that you are my brother's son, therefore, why should I consider you family?"

"Ah, how much love there is between our families," Mephisto teased with a sinister smirk.

Raziel and Mephisto had a quiet moment filled with silent hostility as they overlooked the city. Just the mere presence of Samael made Raziel feel uncomfortable. Raziel felt his sword under his coat—cold, clean, and unused. If he could, he wouldn't hesitate to behead the monster beside him—if he were willing to face Satan's wrath that is. Well, he may as well expect it when word goes out his newborn son is dead.

"You do know I am the only being in this area that can kill you with my bare hands," Raziel said out of the blue.

"Do you expect me to be afraid? I am not worried about your... abilities," Mephisto replied calmly while leaning forward on his umbrella standing on the concrete. "Even if you can, you couldn't, because my father is the only one who will kill you." Mephisto made a low chuckle.

"Then you should be afraid still. If it were not for your loyal commitment to the Vatican and the Laws of the Grigori, as well as your contribution, you would be choking in your own blood. I find it ludicrous that humans are willing to make useless rules to protect you—to trust you. Consider yourself fortunate for the mercy I so rarely bequest."

"Consider yourself unfortunate that you are forbidden to kill me willingly." Mephisto smiled. His white canines laughed at Raziel.

Raziel completely ignored Mephisto as he changed the topic. "You could have warned him of us. Why didn't you? That would be wise if you did. Of all beings, he should be prepared to fight us. Why have you not prepared him yet? I feel as if you are being deceptively easy on us."

Mephisto hummed a bit, unworried. "Only his faith in becoming an exorcist can help prepare him for what he must face." Mephisto closed his eyes as the wind brushed through his long purple side bangs. "I feel as if, by living, he is preparing himself already. This school will teach him how to battle his demonic weaknesses. That is how he may grow stronger, I believe."

Raziel lowered both his head and tone. "How about his power? That is something he cannot overcome, let alone control."

"That... Is surprising. He has a considerate amount of control over them. I've taught him ways of cloaking his identity, even the little hints that can throw off his cover. He is smarter than he acts. I guess I must not worry about him revealing himself, therefore, I am not worried about you and your god's 'mission' and its success." Mephisto looked at Raziel with a devilish smile on his face, as if mocking the angel.

Raziel never expected Mephisto to be afraid. To the demon, time was like a film, and he was the director, he has control over it. He is capable of rewinding into the past of the film, or forwarding farther into the film before anyone else can see it. He knows about all the events that occur in Assiah, in the past, present, and future. He saw all of them. Raziel wouldn't be surprised if Samael knew if the mission failed or succeeded. Samael knows everything just as much as Raziel does, but one thing Samael had was the ability to manipulate and modify time to his own taste. Whatever he must do, Raziel must not unknowingly fall into the demon's traps that sets his future according to his interests. Mephisto craves control over his subjects, Raziel has always tried to avoid his deceptive tricks to gain control. If he had control, Samael could manipulate Raziel's future for the worst. All living things are his actors, who are merely given a script and forced to play their parts created by him.

However, there was one detail Samael couldn't possibly control: free-will, in which the angels lacked, but in which humanity possesses. Destiny is difficult to control if one believes in their own part—that is what Samael fears.

"He would be much keener if he knew how to conceal his soul. I feel him at this very moment," Raziel added.

"Yes, but why didn't you kill him?" Mephisto questioned the angel with a hint of teasing. Raziel remained silent as Mephisto answered that for him. "Perhaps because it isn't your job, correct?"

Raziel stiffened his jaw. "If it were my duty, he would have been dead the minute he was born, just like his mother."

"Possibly, but this isn't about you. The issue is: will _she_ be prepared to face him? What would you do when she fails? I can tell she is already struggling. She is struggling to even sense his presence." Mephisto let out an amusing chuckle. Just seeing the archangel struggle satisfied him.

Raziel crossed his arms firmly as he overlooked the city, his long cassock blew with the wind behind him. Memories of Amitiel's training replayed in his mind. "I have trained her, she will succeed. Like all angels, she is immune to any human weakness. She is incorruptible, not even your little brother can manipulate her."

"Do you think that amateur can handle an enemy more powerful than herself?" Mephisto raised an eyebrow. "Not everyone stays strong forever, you know," the dark-haired demon added. Raziel grit his teeth together.

"And you think that only applies to us, Samael?" Raziel replied seriously.

Mephisto chuckled lowly as he felt a strong gush of wind hit his body, sending his cape flapping in the air. After the wind subsided, Mephisto closed his eyes and sat back. Except he wasn't sitting on anything, just the air. Not even the gravity pulled him down on the ground. Mephisto crossed his legs in purple tights and leaned back in midair.

The demon king stroked his small goatee on his chin as he spoke to himself. "The stage has been set, and the characters will begin playing their parts. Now I shall sit back and observe the show, then. The curtains are about to rise up!"

* * *

**A/N: Another chapter finished! Seriously, why am I still writing this lol? Well, I did get some lovely reviews, a special thanks to _Hell Province for their wonderful critique/review, it really inspires me to continue on when I get favs/follows/reviews/etc. It just shows people appreciate your story, y'know? It's a nice feeling... like getting Nutella (I LOVE nutella...a lot)_**

**_How's Rin and Amitiel's study session gonna turn out? Find out when the next chapter is posted...in october (blame school)_**

**_~CrescentiC_**


	10. Chapter 9: All in Good Faith—誠意を持ってすべての

**Disclaimer: Blue Exorcist (****青の祓魔師（エクソシスト****)) belongs to Kazue Kato. This is created for entertainment purposes only, no profit was made. Please support the author by purchasing her books!**

* * *

_**天使火災—**__**Angel Fire**_

_**Chapter 9: All in Good Faith—**__**誠意を持ってすべての**_

* * *

**Rin was in the middle of searching for his sweater when suddenly he heard a sharp knock on the door.** Rin jumped over and opened the door to come face to face with Hana. She had her blond waves of hair tied up into a high bun, with strands falling beside her cheeks. Her side bangs were tucked behind her round ears. Amitiel didn't wear the school uniform, but rather black leggings and a tanned long-sleeved, wool turtle neck. In her hands were her study books and notes she was going to use to attack Rin if he slacked off. Amitiel only stared at Rin with minimal expectation in her dark eyes.

"Hi! Welcome to my den," Rin shot a welcoming smile and allowed her to step in. Rin felt his palms sweat. It was new and awkward for a girl to be in his room. The moment she could take a look inside, Amitiel frowned. The dorm had two beds across each other, with two separate desks in the back beside the beds. Everything about the architecture of the building was identical on each sides—except for who was living there. One side of the room looked neat and tidy; everything was arranged a specific order. Amitiel even noticed the book shelf had books arranged alphabetically. The bed was even made. Amitiel expected this side to be Yukio's territory.

As soon as she wavered her gaze away from his side of the room, her eyes stumbled upon the complete opposite appearance. The other side looked like a tornado ravaged on that side. Clothes laid on the ground everywhere and under the bed, there was even clothes hidden in the covers of the unmade bed. Amitiel was sure this was Rin's side.

"Sorry, I was about to clean this up but then you arrived." Rin made a goofy smile and scratched the back of his neck. "To be honest, I actually forgot about this study session." Rin's chest jumped and he immediately decided to shove stuff aside into a pile, a pair of striped boxers hung on the post of the bed, and Rin took it and threw it into the pile. He tried his hardest to hide his red cheeks.

Yukio opened the door and walked in. He reached for the closet door but stopped when he noticed someone else in the room. "Oh, Tanaka-san. How odd to find you around Nii-san." Yukio glanced at Rin.

"Yah, we're cool. I think," Rin shrugged his shoulders.

"Finally," Yukio sighed in relief. Deep relief. Yukio had always tried to avoid exposing his brother in situations that may provoke him to snap. When Rin is angry, it was like hell was on Earth. _Literally._ Not like it was different for Yukio when he gets angry.

Yukio reached over to his closet, which hung many exorcist coats and uniforms. Yukio grabbed one of the coats off the hangers and slipped into it.

"I'm just gonna go on a mission." Yukio buttoned up and tightened his belt. "Don't do anything stupid together," Yukio added as he fixed the folds.

Yukio stood out of the door when he turned back to his brother. "By the way, Nii-san, please clean up your mess, that isn't very impressive to women." Rin made a face at him. Yukio was always the one who had to clean up Rin's crap.

"Yah, like you know everything about girls!" Rin remarked with a snort.

"Actually, more seem to be compelled by my presence than you," Yukio teased his brother with a smirk.

Amitiel had to say something to Rin. "... He's telling the truth, Rin."

There was an immediate reaction. "Shut up!" Rin spun around and pointed a finger at her. "They haven't seen me in action yet, that's why!"

Yukio pushed his glasses up with more force than needed. All the teasing he made quickly turned into frustration in a second. "Just clean your damn crap up." Amitiel and Rin tensed as they felt Yukio's anger surge.

Yukio slammed the door on them, and Rin and Amitiel stood alone together. Rin moved over and began to clean up, throwing his dirty clothes in the basket his brother takes down to wash. Rin fixed the covers on his bed, trying to mimic the appearance of his brother's bed.

Rin stopped and ruffled his navy blue hair as he wondered about something. _Wait...why am I even doing this?_ Rin's heart skipped when he realized something he never expected himself to do, especially to Hana. He found himself wanting to impress her, but why? He surely had nothing towards Hana, perhaps his brother's threatening tone scared him to clean up.

"Are you looking for something?" Amitiel said as she noticed Rin was digging through his pile of clothes. She also glanced at Rin's sword on his bed.

Rin's heart leaped suddenly and he shot up. "Uh, I-I'm just looking for my blue sweater."

"Oh," Amitiel placed the books on Rin's desk and crossed her arms and waited. Her schoolbag hung on her shoulder, and it was filled with more books—books she might not be able to use on him.

"Um, I'll be right back," Rin said after searching and then left the dorm.

The moment Rin disappeared into the hall. Amitiel turned towards the sword that was resting on Rin's bed, it was left vulnerable and unprotected. Amitiel's eyes darkened as she slowly approached the sword without making a creak under her feet. The closer the angel got, the stronger the sword's aura hit her. It was nerve-wracking, her senses were tingling, and the hairs on her arms rose up.

Standing right before her might be the only obstacle obstructing her from completing her mission. She found it quite deceptive that this sword, immobile and powerless on the outside, could mess with her senses. The demon inside is trapped in that sheath, unable to defend itself from her. She will simply snap that piece of metal in half, and everything will come together. The sword's essence will no longer blind her senses. In an instant, she will know his location, and finish this for all.

Amitiel slowly reached out to touch the sword. Her dark, empty eyes reflected themselves on the sheath. She observed its appearance as her fingers reached out. She recognized the sword, apparently this wasn't just any sword—it was an ancient weapon. Why would a boy like Rin own a legendary sword?

Amitiel's fingers touched the surface of the sheath, and suddenly a screaming pain shot through her skull. Amitiel shut her eyes and threw herself back and clutched her head, her ears were ringing and a shock travelled through her, as if she got electrified. Amitiel breathed heavily, regaining control of herself. Amitiel looked at her fingers that made contact with the sword and dark burns were left behind. She observed the burns as they began to heal slowly. She looked back at the sword. Even if it was just a piece of metal, it was still a living thing. There is a living demon in that sword.

Amitiel sucked in her breath and quickly grabbed the sword with both hands. Amitiel tried to suppress her chances of screaming in pain as she tried to fight against the beast inside it. Amitiel handled the pain and held the sword without wincing. She was as calm as a lake. She was preparing to snap it in half just when something stopped her.

She looked at the door and there stood Rin in his blue sweater, with a horrified look on his face. He didn't move an inch, but his breathing was heavy as if he ran for miles.

"H... Hana," Rin gasped as he looked at Amitiel then at the sword in her hands. His heart was thrumming against his ribcage. "M-my sword... Give it back." Rin reached out his shaking hand.

"_Koumaken Kurikara_, they called it." Amitiel stared down at the sword in her hands, the sheath was blue and glossy, with silver brackets holding the sheath together. "If this sword is legitimate, it is believed it belonged to _fudō-myōō_. He was a guardian deity of the living that was among the Five Wisdom Kings. He had a wrathful reputation, and he was clad in burning red flames. His sword had a curling dragon around it. Did you know the Dragon is also the symbol of Satan?" Amitiel eyed Rin without raising her head.

Rin remained silent not out of confusion, but out of great fear.

"But," Amitiel continued. "The dragon should not always be labelled as Satan's icon. It is also a very noble creature, deemed with wisdom and knowledge." Amitiel raised the sword up with her hand on the grip, as she stared at it from bottom up. "This is a powerful sword. I feel it will aid you on your journey to become an exorcist. It would be a shame if it were destroyed."

It was a shame a demon had corrupted this beautiful sword.

"How do you know this?" Rin croaked.

"I've come to learn about it. I've been told by... certain people," Amitiel responded calmly as she passed it back to its owner. The pain in her hands stopped and she felt them heal. Rin quickly ripped it out of her grip. He wasn't relieved she didn't steal it, he was only relieved she didn't draw it.

"H-Here, you can just sit on my bed or whatever." Rin looked insecure. He pointed at his bed. "I'll sit here." Rin sat on the chair to his desk, keeping his sword close to his body, as if it was a vital part of him. Amitiel walked past his desk and saw a picture frame, with a priest in it. He had circular red-tinted glasses and short, messy, layered grey hair. He looked in his fifties.

Rin tensed as she reached over and picked it up, she ran her thumb over the priest's face and asked, "who is this?"

Rin looked over and took the picture, as if he was insecure about her touching it.

"Here... we'll study over these—" Rin placed the frame under the desk lamp and pulled out one of her books from her bag. The golden light illuminated the Father's smiling face.

"Who was he? A relative?" Amitiel looked at Rin.

Rin didn't look up and hesitated."... He's my father." He lied, so Amitiel assumed he was a father figure to Rin.

"Oh, I see."

Rin swallowed a lump down his throat and scratched his head. His shoulders were stiff and raised up. He flipped the pages until Amitiel said something.

"Something happened to him, right?" Amitiel glanced at the picture then at the boy. They didn't look at all alike. Rin seemed uncomfortable just by the mention of the priest.

"...Y-yah. Can we—"

"He's dead, isn't he?"

Rin was shocked at how direct she was. "... Yah."

Amitiel paused for a minute before she let out short "Hmm."

Rin was shocked, he expected her—anyone—to reply with a sympathetic sorry, but she only hummed, like she couldn't care less. Rin felt disrespected by her action.

"Can we just study now?" Rin said more forcefully.

Amitiel continued, much to Rin's dismay. "'_Even death is not to be feared by one who has lived wisely..._' at least, that's what Buddha said," Amitiel quoted. Rin just stood silent, without looking up. "He seems like a very wise, courageous father. I can tell you cherished him dearly." Amitiel stared at the picture, then a thought lingered in her head. Amitiel wondered if her father was courageous and wise. She doesn't know much about him, or rather, she didnt feel that close to him.

Rin still remained silent. He did feel a bit more comforted by her words, but he was afraid her soft words would turn thorny.

"I wonder where he is, right now," Amitiel continued speaking, eyeing the picture and Rin. "Don't you ever wonder whether he's happy or not? I wonder what it's like to be sleeping eternally, buried underneath earth, being dea—"

"SHUT UP!" A loud bang sounded.

Amitiel's dark eyes came into contact with blue ones. Rin gasped and withdrew his hand from the desk, there was a small crack on the surface where Rin had hit it. Rin felt burning hot tears prick the back of his eyes and he gasped. Rin breathed shuddering breaths as he wrapped himself in his arms, restraining himself. He clutched the sword close to his chest.

"I-I'm sorry... I'm Sorry..." Rin muttered through shaky breaths. His heart ached, and just the thought about Father Fujimoto pained him to tears. Oh how he missed him. Father Fujimoto was the only being who ever showed love towards Rin and Yukio. He was the only human in this forsaken world who saw through Rin and Yukio's nature.

Amitiel leaned in closer to Rin. He didn't back away.

"Don't be sorry," Amitiel said softly with a small shake to her head. "You're in pain, I understand that, but you mustn't get so sensitive about him." Rin looked back up at her, he was surprised by what she said.

"You have to look forward; let go, that's key to becoming stronger in spirit, Rin. You've all lost someone, and that's the burden of mortality. Human life is easily destroyed, don't let the fear for death take over you, it will come at some point in a human's life, so accept it. When you become an exorcist, you will see much more death that you will be forced to accept." Amitiel looked out the window, observing all the life flourishing outside this lonely building.

"I've seen enough death," Rin grit his teeth in rage and grief.

Amitiel looked back at him, "then you must pull yourself together, Rin, that is—if you want to face more."

Rin was agape at her words. No matter how harsh they were—it was the truth. It just seemed difficult for Rin to accept it. It was difficult for him to accept that his father was really gone.

"... let's just... study..." Rin said, attempting to change the somber topic.

* * *

"Since the beginning, there were two types of religious followership, one known as the Sons of Light, the other as the Sons of Darkness," Amitiel spoke as she read from the textbook in her hands. Rin was sitting on the chair at his desk, with his arms crossed on the wooden surface and his head laid on his arms. He merely just listened.

"These two cults were very different and contradicting," Amitiel continued. "The Sons of Light were disciples of God, such as humans, priests, and exorcists; whereas the Sons of Darkness devoted their loyalty to the Devil, such as demons, Satanists, and witches. Each has their own methods of worship. The sons of Light attend masses, prayers, and rituals, and the Sons of Darkness use sacrifices, séances, and black magick. Each cult opposes each other and therefore..."

"There are many diverse treatments of possession," Amitiel spoke as Rin looked at her, listening. "The possession type varies and therefore, the treatment will vary as well. Demons that possess objects and animals can be exorcised physically by four Meisters of exorcism: Knight, Dragoon, Tamer, and Aria. However, Aria are very crucial in treating Oppression and Possession. When it comes to dealing with the Fallen Angels or even Satan himself, a traditional exorcism, such as _Ad S. Michaelem Archangelum_ or _Exocismus_ must be performed in order to save the victim aliv—"

"_Japanese_, Hana!" Rin shouted as he bolted his head off the desk. She seemed to forget not everyone understands Latin.

Amitiel paused and took a breath."—_Ad S. Michaelem Archangelum_ or Prayer to Saint Michael the Archangel. _Exocismus_ or Exorcism. There."

Rin rested his head on the desk, relaxed now. It's been a few hours and Hana hadn't done anything else that upset him, which was a huge relief to Rin. "Thanks, now continue in _Japanese_."

Amitiel flipped through the textbook until she stumbled upon a different topic. "Demons were once messengers of God, also known as angels..."

"...Hana?" Rin asked quietly, his head remained on the desk.

"Yes?"

Rin hesitated for a moment before he asked, "Do _you_ believe in angels?"

Amitiel paused a moment. "... Of course I do." _I am one_, she wanted to say.

Rin looked at the picture of his father standing in front of his face. He ran his fingers over the glass. "My dad used to talk to me about guardian angels when I was still a brat. He read me bedtime stories about angels, he said they protect us from demons."

"They do."

Rin chuckled dryly. "Yah, and they're doing a shit-job at that."

"Don't be so negative about that." Amitiel frowned derisively at his comment. How can he say that when she has protected humans for centuries? "Angels have watched over every person. They have protected you for centuries," Amitiel said.

"Really?" Rin raised his head and narrowed his eyes at the angel. "Next time, go outside, and look around you. Do you know what I see every day? Demons. Everywhere. And guess what else? No angels. Why would you rely on a species that doesn't have the guts to show their faces, huh? They aren't protecting us. And they certainly won't protect me."

_They probably don't even exist_, Rin thought.

"...I know it's hard to understand." Amitiel replied calmly. "But you must know that angels rely on faith, not proof. Believe me, angels are just as real as demons."

"Prove it to me, then," Rin crossed his arms.

Amitiel felt stuck."... I really wish I could show you." Amitiel sighed. She wanted so badly to reveal herself to him, just so that he feels confident and sure; just so that he can see the truth for himself. It must be terrible to always wonder whether or not her kind does exist, and she was commanded by Heaven to never reveal herself to them, and she can never disobey them. She doesn't even know how.

"But keep in mind that you are still alive," Amitiel continued. "There are demons everywhere, yes, but you're still living. Isn't that enough proof that they are protecting you?"

"I don't think angels want _all_ of us to be alive..." Rin pursed his lips, looked down, and clenched his fists. "There are people... monsters that shouldn't be alive."

"Then if there are monsters, they'll be eliminated. Unfortunately, believing in angels means also believing in the Devil. Many people I've met struggle in believing, you are too. So I understand."

"No, you don't understand." Rin shook his head, she couldn't be even close to understanding. She was apathetic, after all. She also couldn't understand because of something else about him. Something far worse: he was the monster.

"Believe me, I do understand," Amitiel said sincerely.

"Then what about the people that have died, the innocent people? What if they were murdered by a demon? Why didn't _angels_ save them, huh?" Rin almost snapped, and spatted at the word. A memory of his father flashed in his mind. His father, when he was still alive, before he was killed by Satan.

"... Perhaps God has a plan for them." Amitiel raised her chin up, then exhaled.

Amitiel's response only made him angry. "God? Plan? Stop lying, Hana. A plan for what? A brutal death?! Is that it?"

Amitiel's face was no longer bland and calm. She snapped her head aside and glared at Rin. "I am _not_ lying. The first thing you should never expect from me is a lie."

"Well, your response doesn't seem like the truth." Rin frowned and crossed his arms. Rin tried to refrain his anger by looking out the window, the faint moonlight shone against his pale skin. If angels really did have a plan for his father, they could have at least saved him from Satan.

From Rin.

Amitiel realized her fists were clenched on her thighs, she looked down at them and then relaxed. She had never had a conversation so deep like this. How much faith in Heaven had been lost over these centuries? Rin seemed to despise her kind. A lot. "You'll see," Amitiel sighed sharply. "Someday, you'll cross paths with angels. They remain hidden in disguise as a human. You may have talked to one and never realized it."

"If angels really do exist, then the only angel I've ever met was my father," Rin responded immediately. "He was the one who protected me and my brother. He is the one I truly believe in, not those—" Rin clenched his teeth and looked away as he finished,"—not those winged cowards."

Amitiel realized she couldn't stop him. It was peculiar, seeing how these humans had the right to reject those who had protected them for generations. How can they do it? Amitiel couldn't possibly understand how...and why they would chose not to believe. "I... see." Amitiel paused for a moment, and the dorm became silent. No studying was taking place. Rin had an opened book in his hand, but it wasn't being read. He couldn't even look at it.

"Let's... push aside this religious debate and focus on your academic success," Amitiel finally said.

There was something that was bothering Amitiel as they studied. She couldn't decipher it. Seeing how Rin treasured his sword given by his father, it reminded him of his last moments before his father's death. Amitiel felt this sinking feeling about destroying Rin's sword, in fact, she didn't want to destroy it at all.

_W... what am I thinking...?_

* * *

"There, this is what will be expected on the exam," Amitiel said as she closed her textbook in her laps and placed her hands on top of them. "If you want I can—"

Amitiel stopped when she realized Rin wasn't listening at all. He was sleeping. Rin's head laid on his crossed arms on top of his desk. His mouth was slightly opened, as well as his eyes, but he was still snoring asleep. Amitiel checked the clock on Rin's desk and realized it was just past midnight.

She looked back at Rin and quietly placed the book on his bed. She approached him and bent down her knees as she observed him, her face close to his. She could feel his weak, warm breaths against her skin. Amitiel titled her head aside and stared for a few minutes, observing Rin's pale face, tracing his features and chin. She saw him shiver a bit.

Amitiel stood up and was about to exit through the door when something caught her eye. His sword was slung over his shoulder still.

Amitiel opened the door but as soon as she pulled on it, it creaked loudly. Amitiel released it then realized she must take another way without waking Rin up. Humans of all beings need their rest.

Amitiel opened the window in front of Yukio's desk and she climbed on top of it. She looked at Rin one last time before she jumped out.

The last thing Rin had heard was a deep flap of wings, and something soft over himself.

* * *

Rin's eyes felt they had been glued shut, but he forced them open when he felt the hot sunlight penetrating through his eyelids. "Huh...?" Rin yawned and his mouth was dry and stiff. Rin took a moment to wake himself up when he realized there was something on him. Something soft. Rin looked over his shoulder and one of his blankets laid wrapped around him. He slid out of the blanket when he realized day had come.

"Oh, Hana! Wake up!" Rin looked around himself for any sign of Hana. In fact, he felt awkward that she may be sleeping here. However, there was no sign of anybody else except Rin. The blue-haired boy felt his arms cover in goosebumps when a cool breeze brushed through him.

Rin hugged himself to keep warm. "Hey, who opened the window?" Rin saw the curtains flowing as the wind glided through them.

He closed the window.

"Ah, dammit, I'm gonna be late," the teen frowned after checking the clock. "Thanks for the wake up call, Four-eyes."

Rin buttoned up his white shirt, and fixed the tie around the collar of his shirt. He slipped into his black dress pants and tightened his black and white belt. Rin looked at himself in the mirror and ruffled his hair, only to make its puffiness even worse than before. Rin always had terrible bed-head, and it was difficult to fix it. Rin grunted and smoothed out his layered, messy dark blue strands with a comb. He swept his bangs to the side and Rin smiled cooly at himself. The bangs just fell back into his face. Rin frowned, blew out and his bangs shot up for a second before hitting his face again.

Rin remembered something. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the clip Suguro gave to him earlier. Rin smirked and pinned his bangs, satisfied.

Rin closed the door and locked it, then decided he might as well wake Hana up if she was still sleeping. Rin chuckled to himself at that thought. That was ironic, normally it was Yukio who always had to wake Rin up, not the other way around. But still, she would probably kill him if he hadn't woken her up. He owed her something for her help after all.

"Hello? Hana?" Rin called from the outside of the dorm. There was no answer. Rin decided to knock on the door, and so he did.

"Were going going to be late for school!" Rin shouted. Wake u—"

Rin's hand was still clenched in midair as the door slowly creaked open.

Rin frowned suspiciously and he cautiously entered her dorm. He hoped she wasn't in the middle of changing her clothes or worse, she was still sleeping. He was scared to even touch her, to be honest, mainly because she can scare others just by her stoic stare. Perhaps she would pounce on him and put that silver blade of hers against his throat again. Déja vu.

Fortunately, it seemed to be empty. Rin wondered if she left him, or if she allowed him to sleep. Rin noticed the curtains near Hana's window were flowing, and her window was also open. Rin moved towards the window, walking across her dorm. Rin observed the window then shut it. Rin sighed, turned around and something suddenly appeared right before him.

"GOD—!" Rin jerked back and hit Hana's desk, almost knocking things over.

Amitiel stood still only inches away from Rin. "I'm not God. Are you stealing?" She frowned suspiciously, seeing as she found him in her own dorm.

"No, where the hell did you go?" Rin took a breath from surprise.

"Stealing is a sin," Amitiel stated.

"Okay, _Ô Religious One_," Rin replied sarcastically.

Amitiel only had to frown at him and he dropped his arrogance.

* * *

"They should be arriving here soon," Yukio said as he crossed his legs and leaned back against the wall beside the dormitory's doorway. Rin and Yukio waited outside their dorm, with Yukio's brother sitting down on the short concrete stairs.

With a frown upon his face, Rin said, "I hope that all-nighter last night was worth it. Man that was tough."

"Oh? So I assumed it went well?" Yukio's eyes widened in surprise. He was impressed Rin had the perseverance to actually study. Yukio had a spark of hope in his heart, a sign indicating Rin might have a chance at this exam, which was going to start soon when the other cram students show up.

"Y-yah, sorta..." Rin rubbed the back of his neck and thought about that horrifying moment when he found Hana with his sword in her hands, and her words about his deceased father.

Suddenly, something else came up as soon as Rin thought about hana and the study session. He didn't remember waking up with a blanket over himself, and he knew the first person to thank.

Rin looked over his shoulder and gazed back at Yukio with a appreciating smile."Hey, by the way, thanks for the blanket, man."

"Pardon? What blanket?" Yukio blinked his eyes at Rin.

"I thought you—" Rin began, but was cut off when the dorm's door opened and Hana stepped out, she was wearing only her white short-sleeved shirt instead of the usual cream-coloured uniform sweater. Rin immediately turned towards Hana with a silent, surprised glance and realized something.

"Huh?" Yukio said.

Rin shook his head and looked away quickly when his and Hana's eyes came into contact. "Never mind," Rin responded to his confused brother with slightly coloured cheeks.

"Shiemi-san promised us to make some of her herbal tea before the exam. It helps manage stress," Yukio changed the topic.

"Huh? Shiemi? Did Eyebrows command her to make it or something?" Rin remarked as he recalled Shiemi's fake friendship with Izumo, and it only made him cringe if she was told by Izumo.

"Pardon? She had been preparing herbal tea since I was still an exorcist-in-training. How is Kamiki-san involved in this?" Yukio formed a crease between his eyebrows in confusion. Shiemi and Yukio had become friends in the past, and when Yukio was preparing for his exorcist exam, Shiemi thought it would be best if she prepared him some of her herbal tea, which was invented by her grandma. With a large garden growing a large variety of herbs, Shiemi was able of creating many different sweet-smelling teas, his favourite being the one that manages stress.

"Shiemi's... totally becoming her bitch!" Rin exclaimed to himself as he was engulfed by annoyance. He seemed to have completely ignored Yukio.

"A what?" Yukio responded, who clearly didn't understand what his twin suddenly brought up.

"Never mind." Rin shook his head. "I mean, how can she do this to herself, dammit," Rin continued to speak to himself.

"Why are you telling this to us?"

Rin turned towards the speaker, which turned out to be Amitiel. "Really? _You_ haven't noticed either? That Kamiki girl is messing with Shiemi."

Oh wait, she might not even care about Shiemi.

"What's this got to do with me? This isn't my business, I'm not wasting my time here helping people that do not concern me." Amitiel frowned derisively and crossed her arms and leaned back against the door.

Rin was shocked. "...What the hell did you say?"

"Why would you rely on me? Why don't _you_ stand up for her, since you care for her so much?" Amitiel questioned Rin, and he was offended.

"Huh?!"

"If you care about her, then stop complaining and stop her. Don't bring me into this, I don't care, its not my business." Amitiel pushed her waves back with her forehand and looked away from him.

"W...why the hell did you have to say that?" Rin squeaked. She was so cold-blooded. In appearance, she looked innocent and bubbly, but personality-wise, she was phlegmatic and stolid. He didn't even recognize who he was talking to, not the mature, honest girl she was last night.

"Rin and Yukio, quit being so quarrelsome already," Yukio added from aside.

"Hardy har har, Four-Eyes," Rin laughed sarcastically that quickly turned into an indignant stare. Suddenly his face softened and he began to feel guilty inside.

"Oh, here they are," Yukio said and the trio looked up ahead to find Shiemi, Suguro and his crew, along with Izumo, Paku, the puppet boy, and the hooded student, walking towards them with large sleeping bags in hand.

At the sight of the old building, a shiver travelled up the students spines. The dark, ominous scenery surrounding the worn out building gave the students the feeling that when seeing this building, they could not turn back.

"...You sure this place isn't haunted?" Shima asked, trying to hide the nervousness in his tone.

Izumo stared up at the building with little sentiment. She shrugged her shoulders as she said, "I can deal with it. Here, hold this." Izumo tossed her bag into Shiemi's arms and Shiemi accepted in loyalty.

Izumo's friend felt the need to tell the girl that she has choices. "M-Moriyama, if you don't want to do it, just say no," Paku said, concerned.

Shiemi smiled and responded, "Paku! How can I say no when I'm helping a friend?" She declared happily.

Paku simply responded after realizing that this girl can't be stopped, "... okay."  
Rin stared in irritation as Izumo entered the building while Shiemi trailed along with her things over her arms.

* * *

The room was dead silent, except for the sound of many pencils moving against paper. Amitiel thought that this test the students were taking was a piece of cake. She was glad that she was at least smarter at exorcism then actual school, actually—she was glad she was smart at something in this strange world. When it comes to school, she felt as if the teacher was speaking gibberish—so she wasn't smart at that.

Suguro already flipped his test over the moment an hour of the test passed and crossed his arms in a sense of pride. Everyone traded shocked glances at his incredible speed.

"I think Bon is God..." Shima whispered beside Konekomaru, who let out a smile as he wrote his test.

After he noticed every student's test was flipped over another hour later, Yukio checked his watch and announced, "okay, time's up, students. Hand over your tests to me."

Everyone immediately groaned as they stood up and handed in their tests. Amitiel's joints felt like they were rusty, she slowly stood up and stretched while releasing a large yawn.

Rin handed in his test and staggered out of the room, feeling a little hot and sick." I need... fresh air... _now_."

Bon merely remained crossing his arms and smirked, "pfft, please, give me a challenge."

"Then I will make sure they are a challenge," Yukio added to Bon's comment as he gathered the tests in a neat pile.

Bon grumbled as Rin shouted at him, "next time, just shut up about that, okay? That was like a friggin' exam!"

Bon almost lost his composure preventing him from killing that boy. "That's because it _is_ an exam, you jackass!"

Amitiel was first to walk out of the class, she had become quite thirsty and she was tired. She hadn't slept at all last night and her vessel was starting to strain from lack of sleep. Human bodies were so demanding, she never spent a day without her body complaining about something. She especially hated when her vessel has some strong cravings for sweets. At this moment, it was water and rest.

Amitiel made her way to the bathroom so she can have a shower, however, there was something that was bothering her.

She and the students weren't the only ones in this building.

Amitiel closed her eyes as she entered a deep state if concentration. Something was here, something menacing. She could feel its aura nearby.

_A demon,_ Amitiel spoke in her head. She opened her eyes, and the only thought running through her head was to warn the students.

* * *

**A/N: i am SO SORRY for the dreadful wait! But this was earlier than expected! :D Since I have a job and I have school it can be difficult to manage some time to write this TT_TT**_**  
**_

**This has got to be my favourite chapter so far, lots of character development going on hahahh it was fun making this, so enjoy!**

_**Now how will Amitiel react in the next chapter? We all know what's gonna happen to the students... I'll try posting it on halloween...that would nice...**_

**_anywoo, check out my dA account. The link is posted on my profile :)_**

_**~CrescentiC**_


	11. Chapter 10: The Truth about Friendship

**Disclaimer: Blue Exorcist (****青の祓魔師（エクソシスト****)) belongs to Kazue Kato. This is created for entertainment purposes only, no profit was made. Please support the author by purchasing her books!**

* * *

_**天使火災**__**—**__**Angel Fire**_

_**Chapter 10: The Truth about Friendship—**__**友情についての真実**_

* * *

"Paku! Let's go take a bath together!" Izumo said eargerly as she jumped up and grabbed Paku's hand and led her out of the room. "O-okay..." Paku replied, a little surprised. She was still trying to adjust after her exam.

Shiemi fortunately heard the conversation and immediately took action. "Oh, wait! Me too!" Shiemi bolted up and followed the other girls out of the room. Rin was about to say something but his mouth closed back up on him.

"Heh, a bath, huh?" Shima formed a crooked smirk, as he stared at the girls as they left the room. He also took a quick peek at Izumo's behind. "We should, y'know, sneak over and peep, heh heh."

Suguro's face scrunched up. "Shima! For god's sakes, you're a friggin' priest!" Suguro snapped at the teenage pervert—who basically ignored the morals of being a 'priest'.

"What?" Shima shrugged his shoulders with a carefree smile. "I'm sure deep down inside you wanna do it, eh?" Shima smiled again. "Don't you get curious?"

"Shima just cannot control it," Konekomaru sighed, but couldn't fight the urge to smile weakly. Out of the trio, Konekomaru knew Renzo was different out of the clan. Unlike Ryuji and Konekomaru, Renzo wasn't strict on education. He was laid-back and carefree, as if life was being good to him. Sometimes Ryuji thought Renzo was trying to fail on purpose during class—because he just didn't care about it. Nevertheless, their differences didn't separate them, because Renzo was like a brother to Konekomaru, so was Ryuji. They had been living together for their whole lives. All their families were part of the same temple—Ryuji's temple. Renzo's family, just like himself, were different. He and his brothers had the same, laid-back attitude, despite his father was strict.

Konekomaru remembered when they were still little kids, Renzo always did something that would embarrass them, mostly intentionally. He recalled one time when Renzo screamed like a little girl and ran around in circles in public when his shoe touched a dead fly. Konekomaru swore Renzo was more afraid of bugs than the Devil. Renzo's phobia was always the main target from Ryuji. He would find a small moth smaller than his pinky finger and wave it in front of Renzo's face. He would literally turn ghastly white and jump out of the way and run back into his house then lock himself in his room for the rest of the day. Then there were childhood moments the pink-headed boy knew would embarrass his friends and family—on purpose. He would sometimes steal his mother's underwear, walk around in public with it on his head, shouting, "I'm the Pantless Knight!" Shima was even nicknamed the 'Erotic Demon' in primary and middle school because sometimes he can't control his urges, so it was common to see him checking out the girls.

Despite his perverted, embarrassing attitude, Ryuji and Konekomaru loved Renzo as a whole, inside and out.

However, someone wasn't quite fond of his pervertedness.

"Please keep in mind your teacher is here," Yukio interrupted. Everything went silent for a moment, until Shima spun his head over to Yukio and approached him.

Shima smiled as he patted Yukio's shoulder blade, which caused the young exorcist's glasses to slip forward on the bridge of his nose. "C'mon, we all have manly desires. You gotta let them loose once in a while, right?"

Yukio had to pause a moment to regain his sanity. "... I do not engage in such frivolities." Yukio pushed his glasses back up and the white glare covered his sharp, serious gaze.

* * *

There was this sensation Amitiel always had when she was called upon by Raziel to exorcise a demon somehere in Japan. When she faces the demon, she had this surge of power within her, as if nothing could stop her, as if the demon was weaker than her. She felt independent and nothing was blocking her way, or putting her mission at risk, or slowing her down.

Right now, she felt the opposite feeling in this case. A cold sensation touched her skin and raised the hairs on her arms and the back of her neck on end. This was the feeling of being powerless, weak. The students were the blockades preventing her from effectively handling a good exorcism—because now she is forced to protect these students while also successfully fighting the demon in the dormitory without getting herself and the others killed.

It was difficult to believe that of all places in this humongous academy, the demon had to choose the abandoned boys' dormitory. It didn't feel like a coincidence, because why would a demon target exorcists and not ordinary, weak humans? Amitiel could feel its energy emitting from afar, except it wasn't as far as she hoped it would be. Judging by its essence, it was strong, which means the demon isn't some lower-class fiend. Down the hall were a set of doors, which led to the bathrooms. However, now might not be a good time to use it for personal use—unless it also involved possibly dying.

_How did a demon bypass through security?_ Amitiel thought as she pulled out her blade from its sheath on her thigh. It bothered her. She remembered Raziel telling her that this academy was heavily guarded by seals and charms that repel demons. How can the demon pass through undetected and unharmed?

_Unless..._

Amitiel heard footsteps approaching her and turned back to see Izumo and Paku, followed by Shiemi, heading towards the bathrooms—the location of demon.

Amitiel cannot allow them to enter. As an angel, it was her duty to protect these humans, whatever it takes. Even if she didn't like them from the start.

"I apologize, but you can't enter passed here," Amitiel announced and she stood in front of Izumo.

Izumo stopped suddenly and gave Amitiel a frown. "What are you talking about?" Izumo responded curtly, confused.

"Please," Amitiel repeated calmly, her big amber eyes were empty from worry, deceptively difficult to reflect her concern. "For your own safety, don't go in the bathrooms."

Izumo frowned and placed her hands on her hips and spoke with a sense of irritation, "oh, what do you know, huh? You don't own it, so move."

Izumo tried to get passed Amitiel, but she stepped in Izumo's way again. Izumo stepped aside but Amitiel immediately jumped in her place.

Izumo was getting annoyed. The angel noticed Ryuji and the gang, including Rin, were walking towards the same direction (Yukio didn't follow them out of the room, perhaps he was too busy marking their exams).

Amitiel's chest tightened as the students walked calmly towards her direction. She felt like a ton of bricks were pilling onto her. One by one. Student by student. If Izumo was this stubborn, how can Amitiel handle convincing the other students about what awaits them ahead? Without telling the whole truth, or even lie?

Izumo hissed and tried to push her way past the blond but Amitiel stopped her abruptly by throwing her arm in front of Izumo, blocking her again.

"What the hell?!" Izumo shouted and immediately pushed Amitiel's hand away, and Amitiel noted how weak Izumo was.

"Uh...what are you doing, Hana-san?" Shima raised an eyebrow at the situation, a little worried, especially since she had her blade exposed in her hand. All the other pages stopped and wondered what was holding Hana back.

"I'm trying to protect you, Kamiki-san," Amitiel replied more forcefully. Her tone didn't sound as calm as it used to be. A skeptic Izumo glared fiercely at the angel.

"Look—" Amitiel stopped and saw worried eyes pinned onto her. She was gesticulating and was hesitating. These students had no experience whatsoever and they might not be prepared to know what lies ahead, or worse—fight that thing. But the truth inside her was urging itself to come out.

Amitiel hesitated for a moment, but found herself pointing her finger towards the direction of the bathrooms, and opened her mouth as she said, "... there's a demon in the bathrooms, don't go there—unless you plan to die."

Everyone now was exchanging worried and confused glances except for Izumo. Rin frowned in worry and looked past Amitiel towards the doorway to the bathrooms. It seemed quiet.

"There she goes making up the most absurd excuses! You're obviously lying, so move!" Izumo shouted.

Izumo pushed by Amitiel, which made her almost lose her balance. As the two girls followed the pig-tailed one Amitiel called again, raising her voice. "I'm telling the truth, Kamiki-san!"

"If I cared about an ounce of that, I would kill it before it even shows its face," Izumo responded without turning back or stopping.

Amitiel had to shout, "You're not strong enough! Plea—!" Amitiel took a step to run and stop the girl before she felt a firm, warm hand latch onto her cold arm.

"Hana, let it go," Rin said, his grip preventing her from taking another step.

Amitiel stopped immediately, as she added without turning back,"... I was just telling the truth, Rin."

Rin released his grip on her arm, and spoke to her with sincerity, "Hana, Yukio checked this place and gave it the clear. You're being paranoid. Just let it go, okay?"

"But—"

Rin immediately cut her off, "no "buts", okay? If there were a demon I'd kick its ass for you."

Amitiel shook her head and looked down, her blond waves covered most of her face. She couldn't understand it. She told the truth, so why do they treat it as a lie? Even Rin, in a more diplomatic manner, denied it.

Amitiel grit her teeth, but then she relaxed her jaw. She breathed out a sigh, trying to regain her calm composure. "Alright, fine." Amitiel shrugged away her arm and Rin let it go. "Izumo will have to defend herself alone."

Rin was about to protest but Amitiel was already walking towards the bathrooms. She will stop it herself, then.

Rin noted, for the first time, how frustrated she sounded. He had never seen her express any sign of emotion. What was up with her?

* * *

Shiemi had never felt so happy in her life. Here she was, standing at the doors of the girls' bathroom, with her new friends Izumo and Paku. She had waited so long for friends, and she finally got some. She will treasure her and Izumo's friendship. No matter what may come across them, she will try her hardest to keep this friendship from falling apart—because it was all she had.

"O-oh, my first bath with my friends!" Shiemi squealed with glee as they stood in front of the door.

"Wait here, okay?" Izumo turned to Shiemi before she entered.

Shiemi was confused. "Huh?"

"I'm sorry, but you can't come with me. I don't want you to see me naked. A friend would understand, right?" Izumo asked innocently.

"But..." Shiemi hesitated to protest.

Izumo remembered something. "Oh, while I'm in, could you go get me some fruit milk? That'll keep you busy in the meantime, okay?"

Without a reply, Izumo closed the door on Shiemi, leaving her stranded in the hallway. It was beginning to grow dark outside, and darkness began to creep in the halls. Shiemi felt the darkness close in on her suddenly as she stood frozen in sorrow. All the happiness she had a few seconds ago died out, swallowed up by the darkness.

Rin noticed her all alone in the hallway, and took the opportunity to talk to her, perhaps even tell her the truth like Amitiel suggested. "Whatcha doing?" Rin asked as he took a slurp of his juice box in his hand.

Shiemi didn't take a chance to look at him without feeling her throat tightening up. She only stood still as she said solemnly, "...nothing. I have to go buy fruit milk." Shiemi turned to walk past Rin. He slurped his juice box loudly then stopped when he grabbed her arm from behind her. She didn't try to protest.

"Will you stop doing that?" Rin said, almost shouting. Just by hearing the tone in her damaged voice only raised his anger towards Izumo.

"'That'?" Shiemi asked, confused at what he was referring to.

"Quit being her bitch and running errands for her! It's wrong!" Rin shouted.

Shiemi bit her lip hard, as she tensed up her shoulders and finally turned towards Rin. "How...how can you say?! I'm helping, that's what I'm doing!" Shiemi raised her voice too. She could feel the back of her eyes sting as tears came at the corners of her eyes.

"Are you freaking serious?!" Rin tightened his grip on his juicebox, squishing it. "C'mon, Shiemi! Do you really think you're helping Izumo? You know better!" Rin tightened his grip on her arm. Shiemi didn't complain. "Tell me, how many times has she asked you to get her fruit milk? How many times has she ever thanked you?" He said. Something Rin said touched Shiemi's heart—more like stabbed it. His words—they felt like a bunch of swords, piercing through Shiemi's heart and bleeding it. But deep down inside her bleeding heart—something hurt her way worse than Rin: she felt he was telling the truth.

Shiemi wanted to ignore it. Everything. She couldn't possibly believe him. Rin would never understand her position, how it feels to be lonely. "Y-you...you could never understand! I'm... tired of hiding in the shadow and allowing others to help me out." Shiemi bowed her head, where her thick, blond bangs shadowed her teary eyes. She thought about Rin and Yukio's bravery and courage when they saved her from the demon that possessed her. She was nothing like them, yet she longed to be like them. It just felt like an eternity away from achieving it; impossible to reach. Shiemi threw her head up and looked straight into Rin's cobalt, angry eyes. "I...I-I wanna have a chance to be strong, so I can help others! She's my very first friend!" Shiemi pleaded and began to wrestle herself free from Rin's iron grip.

"No, listen—"

"Stop it! You have friends and you're strong, so please leave me alone!" Shiemi screamed and broke free, then began to run away. Rin stood, feeling anger and confusion silently burn within him.

He charged after Shiemi in hot pursuit, "hey! Get back here! Wait!"

* * *

_I'll just take a shower, then when the demon shows itself..._ Amitiel clutched her blade in her hand and held it as she opened her locker and looked around herself cautiously. She walked into the bathrooms before anyone could enter. She performed a short search before the other girls could walk in, but it was empty, however it didn't _feel_ empty. The demon was in here for sure, but why isn't it attacking?

The angel could hear voices, Izumo and Shiemi's voices, behind the bathroom door. Suddenly, Izumo walked in, turned around and asked Shiemi to buy her fruit milk. Amitiel watched Izumo close the door, Shiemi's hurt face was wiped out of sight as the door closed.

"Oh," Izumo reacted curtly when she saw Amitiel. "Look at that, we're still alive."

Amitiel frowned at Izumo, but shook her head and began untying her tie. Her blade was strapped against Amitiel's thigh. Whatever happens between her and Izumo, she would not care about it more than her own safety. In fact, she wasn't safe at all. Amitiel's senses were tingling, urging her to stay cautious and prepare to fight.

"Thank god the bathrooms aren't so rundown. I can't believe someone could live in a place like this," Izumo muttered to Paku as she took off her school sweater and began loosening her silky tie.

Paku's head lowered and she stiffened her shoulders. "Izumo-chan..." Paku asked quietly. "Aren't you being a little rude?"

Amitiel threw a quick side glance to Izumo and Paku, something indicated it was starting to get personal. Raziel reminded Amitiel to respect peoples' privacy and personal issues, especially in a bathroom where people felt uncomfortable undressing in front of others. Amitiel still couldn't understand it. When she first came to Assiah, she expect humans to be free of shame, so she anticipated to find humans walking around naked. However, it was the opposite. Now she must follow their societal rules and wear things they call 'clothes'. Amitiel insisted she will not wear any clothes, because she doesn't feel shame. She didn't understand why she must wear clothes. She once walked out of her room naked only to find Raziel throwing clothes at her face, demanding she must respect humans' way of life.

Amitiel walked to the shower area, which was behind the lockers encased in thick, tiled walls. There were showers behind a large glass window the size of a wall, but it was in front of the girls. They would feel awkward if they saw her naked.

Amitiel began unbuttoning her blouse as she honed in on the conversation.

"What do you mean, Paku?" Izumo stopped loosening her tie.

"What you're doing with Moriyama-san," Paku reminded.

"Oh, her? She's not really my friend, it's her fault for going along with it though!" Izumo raised her chin up in superiority. Izumo immediately spun around and cupped her best friend's hands with hers, "but it's different with you, Paku! You're my best friend! I'm so glad you came to cram school with me!"

"Though I'm hardly keeping up..." Paku answered sheepishly.

"Don't worry about that! I'll help you out, always!" Izumo exclaimed cheerfully. "I'll always support you, Paku." Izumo smiled.

_Just like how you supported me..._

_"Hey, there's that girl again." A little boy whispered to his friend as he saw a small, purple-haired girl treading down the hallway with a stack of books in her hands._

_"That Kamiki girl said she saw another ghost, what a weirdo." A girl giggled with her friends._

_Izumo unfortunately heard the kids' conversations about her nearby. She wished she hadn't. She would feel so much better if she never heard them, but it felt as if they were speaking loudly on purpose just so that she can hear them clearly._

_"She's just pretending so she can get attention. She's so lonely she's willing to make herself look pitiful to others." The group of kids continued with the verbal assaults as Izumo walked away, her mind tarnished by the horrible comments._

_One of the students in the group of mocking kids looked back at Izumo, then at her friends. Suddenly, a pang of guilt shot through her, and she found herself jogging up towards Izumo._

_"Hey! Wait up!" The girl cried out._

_Izumo stopped and turned around. A little girl with short, chocolate hair with a bright red bow accessory in her hair, and a blue dress, ran up to Izumo. "I can help you with that!" The little girl said with a friendly smile._

_Izumo hesitated but said it anyways. "If you talk to me, they'll gossip about you too."_

_The girl looked back at the group of kids she called 'friends', they were giving her dirty looks. She looked at Izumo with an unworried smile._

_"I don't care, they weren't really my friends to begin with," the girl giggled, then grabbed some books off Izumo's arms. "Here, I'll help you!"_

_Izumo couldn't help but smile. She didn't remember the last time she smiled like that. She missed that feeling of happiness and acceptance, and she finally found it again._

_"...Thank you," Izumo replied calmly._

_"My name's Paku, by the way! What's yours?" Paku asked as they walked down the school hallway._

_"Izumo, nice to meet you. I gotta warn you, I can be crazy," Izumo giggled._

_"Don't worry, we all are!" Paku joined in and giggled._

"Just trust me, Paku!" Izumo said happily as she clutched her best friend's hands.

Paku's atmosphere remained somber as she spoke softly, "um, Izumo-chan..." Her head bowed down, her heart sank a little as she thought of something.

Izumo smiled, "yah?"

"I think I'm going to quit cram school."

Izumo's heart dropped. And it shattered in hundreds of jagged pieces. Those words, especially by her best friend, Izumo felt like she got punched in the stomach.

"What?" Izumo squeaked, her chest felt tight and her throat felt dry.

"I don't understand the lessons, and I would never keep up in a battle," Paku spoke sadly, without a sign of her usual, optimistic attitude.

Izumo's heart jumped. "But, like I said! I'll help—"

"No, that's not what I want," Paku interrupted as she shook her head. "I don't like what you've been doing, Izumo-chan. I don't like to make fun of people; Moriyama-san, and Tanaka-san—you know better how to treat others."

Izumo felt her heart drop in her chest from a pang of remorse.

Amitiel looked down on the ground, a sense of relief washed over her as she breathed out. Finally, someone was willing to spit out the truth to Izumo. But will it destroy Izumo's friendship with Paku, her only best friend?

"I'm sorry if this came too sudden, but you must understand, Izumo-chan," Paku formed a weak smile.

"I-I'm..." Izumo felt tears sprout under her eyes, but she shut them and looked away. She couldn't possibly look into Paku's innocent indigo eyes, not when hers were guilty. "I-I'm sorry—"

"It's time." Amitiel unsheathed her blade as she stepped out from behind the lockers. She was only in her underwear and sports bra, just like Izumo. She felt the demon approaching, and it was time to take action before these girls get hurt.

"Tanaka-san?" Paku squeaked. "Were you—" Paku got interrupted when she felt a thick fluid drop on her cheek. Izumo and Paku slowly looked up, trailing to the source of the fluid, until their eyes laid on something that provoked them to scream.

* * *

The girls' screams traveled throughout the building, until those shrills reached down the hallway and into Rin's ears. Rin, catching the sound of despair, immediately grabbed the back of Shiemi's collar and stopped abruptly, forcing a surprised Shiemi to obey as well. As soon as they were standing, Rin dashed back towards the bathrooms, answering the familiar cries of the girls.

"That sounds like Kamiki-san and Paku-san!" Shiemi cried.

"Go tell Yukio! Now!" Rin commanded as he ran. His heart began to thump so hard it felt like it was knocking at his ribs. He knew Hana was there, as well as Izumo and Paku. Rin began to realize that Hana's prediction was probably right.

_How did she know?_ A curious Rin asked himself.

Shiemi stood, perplexed yet amazed from Rin's instantaneous decision. Without even hesitating, he runs towards a situation that she deemed dangerous. She knew it would take so much courage to run straight towards harm. She knew she must try, if it meant helping others like Rin.

_How... how can he be so strong?_

Perhaps, in order to help save lives, Shiemi has to put her own life on the line. Shiemi built up her courage and followed the other teen. "Rin! Don't leave me!" Shiemi cried.

* * *

"Paku!" Izumo screamed as Paku passed out and fell down onto the wooden floor when the demon jumped off the ceiling and landed above Paku. The demon was dripping in fluids from the cuts and gashes throughout its body, which were stitched up poorly. All the limbs were from different animals. This demon was basically a messed up puzzle of animal limbs covered in sickly coloured skin. Its head was covered by a bag of skin on top, which was ripped in front of its face, revealing its dead eyes and sharp canines. The other head appeared to be closed up by stitches throughout its head. Fluid was dripping from throughout the demon's flesh. Some spilled onto the ground around it, causing the wood to disintegrate and smoke. Some also spilled all over Paku' arms, causing the fabric of her sweater to smoke and her skin began to necrotize, turning from a healthy cream to a putrid black-purple. The smell of rotten flesh filled Izumo's nose and she vomited a little in her mouth.

"I'll save you!" Izumo screamed as she fetched into her bag and pulled out her summoning papers. Izumo shouted confidently, "Inari, I humbly beseech thee—"

Izumo screamed and was suddenly dragged out of the room. Amitiel's hand grabbed Izumo's arm and she hurled her out of the room with her. She bashed through the door and led her down the hall.

"Hey! What are you _doing_!?" Izumo stopped Amitiel and she ripped herself out of the angel's iron grip and ran back towards the bathrooms.

"Why would you— Izumo!" Amitiel shouted and grabbed her and clasped her whole body by wrapping her arms around her and carried her away. Izumo punched and screamed and Amitiel dropped her.

"I have to save her! She's my best friend! I won't abandon her!" Izumo shouted furiously at Amitiel.

"Listen to me. This isn't worth losing you to that demon. I have to do what I must, and that means saving you," Amitiel said calmly as she held Izumo's shoulders. Izumo tensed then shuffled herself free. Amitiel looked at Izumo with a threatening look in her dark eyes. "It's too late for Paku, her body is probably going into necrosis by now. Now please…"

Izumo was flabbergasted and shocked. _How... how can she be so _calm_... isn't she scared?!_ Izumo also noticed her touch on Izumo's arm didn't shake _at all_.

There was short pause before Amitiel said "go."

Izumo grit her teeth hard and snarled furiously at the angel. "No. Unlike you, I actually care about others. The one who is a coward...is _you_!" Izumo pushed Amitiel away from her and ran back to the bathrooms. This time Amitiel didn't follow.

Amitiel stood shocked. _T__hey're not even related...yet she treats Paku like a part of her... _Amitiel thought as she watched Izumo run towards the bathrooms, her purple pig tails flew rapidly in the air behind her_. I don't get this... what's wrong with her? Why would she throw her life in jeopardy just to save a friend she could replace?_ Amitiel was confused.

Amitiel frowned and turned back against the bathrooms and stalked away, sheathing her blade back in its sheath, as she abandoned Izumo and Paku—leaving them to die alone.

"Inari, I humbly beseech thee—" Izumo shouted as she ran. "Answer my prayers, leave none unfulfilled!"

Izumo's fox spirits, Uke and Mike, appeared in a fog of smoke and took solid form. They both ran with their master and entered the room to hell.

"Paku! I'm gonna—!" She was about to command her familiars when she stopped suddenly. She let out a small gasp when she looked at Paku, remembering her best friend's hurtful words repeating in her head.

_I don't like making fun of people, Izumo-chan_, Paku's voice echoed in Izumo's head.

The familiars realized their master's weakened will.

"_What is this_?" Mike noticed. Izumo backed up suddenly as panic rose in her. "_T__hy wavering heart...is not worthy of our aid!_" The fox named Uke shrieked. Both foxes flashed their sharp canines as they turned against their master and charged. Izumo screamed and covered her face. She couldn't see it, she didn't want to see her failure. She didn't want to see what will happen next. It was the end.

The foxes screamed as a flash of blue light blinded them for a mere second and a fist hit them both in their snouts. The foxes were blown away from the incredible force. Izumo opened her eyes to find Rin Okumura standing tall before her. Her petite body was on its knees, and her blood-stained papers were scrunched tightly in her trembling hands.

Rin spun around and pointed at the papers in Izumo's trembling hands, "rip the circle!"

Izumo was in too much shock to understand what he shouted. Her only response was her wide, petrified red eyes.

"The papers! Rip 'em! Now!" Rin shouted again.

Izumo looked down in her hands and realized what he was talking about. She quickly ripped them and the foxes disappeared in white smoke.

Rin turned around and faced the growling demon. _Damn it, now what?_ Rin cursed, stumped on thinking of a strategy to kill the demon without drawing his sword and revealing himself in front of Izumo.

"Hey, where's Hana?!" Rin shouted when he recognized her absence.

"She's useless. She ran away." Izumo grit her teeth in pure anger.

_What?!_ Rin shouted in his head. _How could she..._ Rin forgot something about Hana: she was the type of girl who only thought about herself.

_But she couldn't have..._ Rin shook his head, then he realized something else. ...S_he's in her underwear... _Rin remarked about Izumo and his cheeks flushed into a rose red. He tried not to allow his curiosity from turning his head back.

"Rin!"

Rin jolted, very familiar with that voice. Rin felt his heart drop and he and Izumo spun around and came face to face with a girl in a bright floral kimono.

"Shiemi!? What the hell? I told you to get Yukio!" Shouted Rin.

Shiemi ignored Rin when she noticed an unconscious and wounded Paku on the floor. "Paku-san!" Shiemi gasped, gazing in horror at the burns on the girl's arm. "Rin! You distract the demon while I treat Paku!"

Rin shrugged his shoulders. He jumped up while removing his sword over his shoulder without sheathing it and shouted, "Easier said than done!" The sword smacked the demon on one of its heads.

The demon stumbled back, taking many steps away from Paku. Rin ran around the demon, drawing it's attention away from the girls to himself, "this way, you ugly piece of shit!" Rin yelled.

Izumo watched silently as Shiemi kneeled down beside the unconscious girl, inspecting the wounds on Paku as Izumo sat, kneeling on the floor, shaking uncontrollably from shock.

"This looks like a burn!" Shiemi said as she trailed her eyes around the wounds.

"It's a Ghoul's temptaint!" Izumo shouted. "I'll necrotize in minutes!" Izumo cried in panic.

Shiemi gasped, "then she needs emergency treatment!" Shiemi bit her nail as she thought, "to treat a burn you need..." Shiemi dug deep into her brain for the answer, trying to remember her answers on the test she failed. "Mr. Sancho!" Shiemi cried out. Shiemi's tiny familiar hopped off her shoulder and produced aloe from it's leafy body. Shiemi was shocked from amazement, also glad she immediately had what was necessary to save Paku.

"Huh?! That's _aloe_!" Izumo corrected. Yet she had to admit she was amazed by Shiemi's familiar's ability.

Nearby, Rin was still conjuring a way to harm the demon. No matter how hard he hit it with his sword, it didn't cause any injuries besides possible bruises. He can never turn to the solution of drawing his sword.

_Not yet..._ Rin thought as he closed his eyes. The navy-haired boy snapped out of his trance when he realized the demon groaned something.

"_My... prince..._" It growled slowly and deeply.

"The hell?" Rin looked at it in confusion. Suddenly he lost his breath when the demon grabbed his head with its large claw and hurled him through the glass wall to the showers. Rin screamed so loud while the wall shattered and millions of pieces showered the whole room, sprinkling the floor with crystals of glass. Rin hit the ground hard and the demon pounced on top of him, driving its hand straight at Rin's throat, as it began choking him slowly to death.

"Rin!" Shiemi shouted as she noticed he was in despair.

"_My prince...I...apologize...but I...only do...as my master...bids me..._" The demon hissed slowly.

The only thought Rin brought up was clear. _Satan?_ Rin thought while he choked. _Why would he want to kill me now?_ Rin said to himself as he tried to break himself free, yet the demon's grip was too strong, and his life was slowly draining out. He began to feel dizzy and his vision began to blur suddenly.

_I can't...do this... _Rin, using a small portion of strength left, began reaching over to his sword beside him, which was almost out of his reach.

_I can't... win...like this..._ Rin's fingers touched his sword when suddenly the demon screeched loudly and freed Rin. Rin gasped for air and sat up, then took a look behind the demon and he saw Amitiel, her hand outstretched towards the demon. Rin noticed her blade was driven into the demon's back. Black blood oozed out and leaked out from the wound. There was also a sizzling smoke emitting from the wound from the blade.

"Release him, demon," Amitiel flashed her threatening eyes on the demon.

"Hana-san!" Shiemi cried out.

"Don't you dare hurt any of them," Amitiel warned.

"H...Hana! Where the hell did you come from?!" Rin shouted then coughed. He also noticed she was in her undergarments.

"Rin, I got this," Amitiel said as she looked straight at the demon. "Run away, plea—"

The demon growled and turned its attention on Amitiel. Rin looked at Amitiel while he was still laying on the ground. His cobalt blue eyes observed her as the demon charged at her on all fours. Amitiel tried to dodge aside and retrieve her blade from the demon's back, but instead, the demon caught her movements and used its tail and whipped it at her from behind, sending her off course and crashing onto the glass covered floor.

"Hana—!" Rin shouted but was cut off and he gagged from being choked. He stood up and grabbed his sword, then built up the strength to attack.

Amitiel stood back up, and she clutched her side. There were small cuts on her cheeks and body from the broken glass, but she ignored it all as the demon prepared to lay another assault. Amitiel ducked when the demon whipped its claw at her, then she took the chance and drove her blade in the demon's abdomen. Amitiel hissed when blood splashed all over her stomach and legs. The wounds were beginning to necrotize, but her healing ability was also fighting to prevent the wounds from spreading. The monster screamed loudly and grabbed Amitiel by her throat with its claws and lifted her off the ground.

The demon groaned in a demonic language that she, unfortunately, understood. "_... Angel... you... must... die..._" The demon growled. Amitiel shut her eyes and the demon hurled her against the wall like a bag of sack. The wall cracked where she hit it and Amitiel lost unconsciousness and fell on the ground. Bits of glass left cuts all over her skin.

"I'll kill you, you rotting bastard!" Rin screamed and he grabbed the hilt of his sword and began to pull just in time after loud shots were heard and bullets showered the demon, piercing right through its whole body. Black blood gushed and sprayed out of the wounds and the demon began to retreat. Everyone gasped and the demon escaped through the skylight on the ceiling.

Rin and the others turned around to find Yukio, his gun pointed where the demon had stood. The barrel smoked on his gun and Yukio huffed.

"Nii-san!" Yukio put his gun in its holster and rushed to his brother, who was on his knees.

Rin used his sword to support himself as he stood up. "Yukio, you sly bastard... what the hell took you so long?" He shouted.

"Are you alright?" Yukio asked as he helped him up.

"I'm fine, thanks," Rin spat.

"Yuki-chan!" Shiemi cried out. Yukio spun around and rushed to Paku's aid. She was unconscious, and Shiemi had applied some aloe on her burns all over her cheek and arms.

"I-I tried to save her!" Shiemi covered her mouth as Yukio observed her treatment and touched his fingers against Paku's neck. Shiemi brought her hands close to her face as tension was heavy in the air.

Yukio withdrew his fingers from Paku's neck, and he sighed in relief. "Thank goodness, Shiemi. You've treated Paku correctly."

Shiemi's heart skipped and a sense of joy washed through her. She shot him a radiant smile as she replied, "oh thank goodness!"

Shiemi heard a raspy voice coming from Paku. She was barely awake but was able to say only a few words—words Shiemi will always remember as a reward for saving a life. "Moriyama-san... Thank you..." Paku smiled weakly.

Shiemi smiled warmly, "no problem!"

"Hana!" Yukio ran to Amitiel, who was still unconscious on the ground. He shook her then checked her pulse. She was alive. Yukio sighed.

"Hana? Wake up," Yukio said. He felt her move a bit, then suddenly he found her blade straight at his throat.

"Go back to the darkness, demon!" She shouted at a surprised Yukio.

"Yukio!" Rin shouted when he realized Amitiel was wide awake, with her blade against Yukio's throat.

Before Rin could say something, Amitiel recognized Yukio immediately and dropped her blade on the ground. "Okumura-sensei, my apologies!" Amitiel bowed down sincerely. Rin stopped and sighed in relief. He was surprised Yukio was calm about the fact she was in her underwear and bra. Rin had trouble avoiding his gaze from looking at Izumo and Amitiel. But for Shima to see this... _oh god_.

"Hana-san... Remember what I told you?" Yukio said.

"I thought you were the demon—" Amitiel cut herself off when she stood up and searched the room, her blade gripped in her bloodied hand.

"Where's the demon?"

Yukio stood up. "It escaped. Hana-san—"

Amitiel stopped and looked at her hands, they were bloody from the glass cutting through them. Some shards were stuck in her skin. However, it didn't hurt her as much.

"I'll have your hands cleaned up when I transfer Paku to the school hospital." Yukio lifted her hands up gingerly and observed her palms and forehands. "Did you get any of the demon's blood on you?"

"Yes, but I'm fine," Amitiel replied. She saw her skin was sickly in some areas. Her healing wasn't the fastest because of her vessel. She had many problems with it.

"No, you're not," Yukio noticed the burns. "Come with me, I'll apply some aloe on you too," Yukio frowned and checked on Paku.

Amitiel watched as Ryuji lifted Paku off the ground and carried her in his burly arms. As the students gathered around Paku and Shiemi, Rin walked up to the angel on the floor. Amitiel hugged herself to cover up her wounds.

The angel looked up to find Rin staring down at her and asked, almost infuriated, "where the hell did you go? Izumo told me you ran away, leaving us in complete danger!"

Amitiel paused for a moment, she clenched her hands but moaned when she felt the cuts sting. She looked down on the floor and avoided his blazing blue eyes. "But I stopped and helped..." Amitiel spoke as she closed her eyes and looked down, "...when I heard you scream."

Rin was quiet from a bit of surprise.

"So I'm sorry, I won't even do that again." Amitiel shook her head.

Rin blinked at her. His mouth opened and he had trouble closing it back up. He was shocked at what she said. He never expected her to actually come back and help them out, not when it seemed she only cared about herself. Rin's thoughts began to change about her. Is it possible she actually was trying to improve?

"No, thank you for coming back to help," Rin scratched his head, then he offered the angel his hand. "Just... Here." Amitiel looked at his hand. "C'mon, let's get you patched up. You look like hell."

Amitiel hesitated and latched onto Rin's hand. He blushed intensely. He was careful not to squeeze her hand too much. Some blood got on his hands, but he didn't care. He believed he already had blood on his hands to start with. His father's blood. He believed he got his friends' blood on him too. For some reason, he felt as if the demon was specifically tasked on attacking Rin. The only reason it may be so was Neuhaus' suspicious glance. A glance of pure, silent hatred.

Amitiel stayed with Yukio, and Rin thought things were under control now. Rin rested himself against the girls' locker and he breathed tiredly. He leaned his head against the locker and he slid down until he sat on the floor. He brushed his sweaty dark blue bangs back with his sore hands. Rin's moment was interrupted when he heard sniffles and sobs nearby. Rin looked around the corner of the locker to find Izumo Kamiki sitting behind. Her legs were brought up to her face, with her arms over them.

Rin stood up and checked on her. "Hey, what's wrong? Are you hur—"

"Don't look at me!" Izumo screamed and her whole body tensed up. Rin could see her eye under her bangs. They were bloodshot and tears rained down from them.

"I couldn't... I couldn't save my only friend. I couldn't do anything... she must hate me now!" Izumo choked up tears and sobbed heavily. Suddenly a T-shirt fell over her face and she stopped her sobbing. She looked up to find Rin, his whole torso exposed.

"Here, take it and go," Rin said and he turned around towards the door. Izumo looked at it and reluctantly took it.

Rin paused at the doorway when someone asked him in confusion, "Rin... why are you naked?" Yukio asked suspiciously, a little embarrassed.

Rin pursed his lips tightly and he looked around himself. He scratched the back of his head, feeling a little cool breeze touch his whole chest. "Um... I... got nothing to say." Rin smiled sheepishly. "It, um, got really hot in here, y'know. Plus this it what a change room's for, right? I have the right to take my clothes off when I want to, got it?"

Yukio made a face at him. "I don't even want to know your reasons for stripping down," he said.

Suguro looked around and noticed Rin, Izumo, and Amitiel were all missing at least one garment of clothes,

"Ok, what is it with you guys gettin' naked?!" He shouted, then he realized what he said came out very wrong.

"Well Bon, like Okumura-sensei said: it is a change room..." Konekomaru stated.

"I-I think I'm supposed to put my clothes back on..." Amitiel said and walked over towards her locker.

"No, Hana-san." Shima smiled calmly. "Please... you don't need any clothes. Izumo...take off that shirt, please." Shima chuckled mischievously as he stared at Izumo and Amitiel. Izumo gave him a cold stare.

Amitiel didn't understand his perverted act and left her skirt off.

"SHIMA! WHY THE HELL DID YOU HAVE TO SAY THAT?!" Suguro barked in complete anger at the perverted boy, "HANA! PUT IT ON."

Rin smiled idiotically as he backed up towards the door without turning his back, the students unaware Rin was holding up something behind his back.

"Well, I just need to get myself a new shirt so..."

Rin ran out without finishing his sentence, leaving all the students speechless.

* * *

**A/N: This was a hard chapter to write. I tried not to make my OC seem overpowered compared to the others, but she does have more experience than the others(?)(well Shima and Rin have quite a bit too so...)**

**Let me know through a review what you think. Seriously, I can't stress this enough, but all writers crave reviews, it's the only way I can connect with my viewers and take into consideration their suggestions/critiques!**

**Some people may notice that my central theme for this WHOLE fanfic is about truth. In my opinion, truth is so prevalent in Blue Exorcist. For example, the truth about Rin being the son of Satan...the truth about Yukio hating his brother/himself...the truth about Shiro and his reason for saving Rin...there are many aspects in the volumes that focus on truth. I could seriously write an essay on why but I'm like "eh...maybe not" XD**

**For the next chapter: Yukio begins to feel suspicious towards Amitiel for a reason...**

**Again, updates will be monthly but i will try my best to submit chapters ASAP. If you wanna keep in touch, my DA account is still active so check it out (link is on my profile)!**


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